in the 1930s he worked in nordland and finnmark; from 1937 to 1939 in kautokeino and 1939 in kirkenes, then vadsø. around the petsamo–kirkenes offensive of 1944, vadsø became uninhabitable until 1945. meløy then returned and worked as a teacher in vadsø until 1948, school inspector in karasjok for twenty years and school director in finnmark county municipality from 1968 to 1978.