Mertens, John Frederick 1870 - 1957

MERTENS, MEYER, MILLER, MURDOCK, BICKFORD, YORK, HOWARD

Posted By: Reid R. Johnson (email)
Date: 1/1/2016 at 14:28:37

Lime Springs (Iowa) Herald, 6 June 1957.

James F. Mertens of Lime Spgs., passed away Monday afternoon at 1:30 at the home of his son, Myron, and family in Lime Springs. He was 86 years of age.

Funeral services were conducted Wednesday, June 5, at the First Congregational Church, Cresco, Iowa, at 2 p.m. The Rev. John A. Nansen officiated. Soloist was Mrs. Richard H. Stevens and the organist, Mrs. Anna Kakac.

Burial was at the F. & W. Cemetery at Farmersburg, Iowa.

Pall bearers were Merten Miller, James Howard Jr., James Bickford, Loras Bickford, Charles Bickford, and Arthur Bickford Jr.

James Frederick Mertens, son of William and Marie, was born October 28, 1870 in Clayton County, Iowa, and passed away at the home of his son, Myron Mertens, of Lime Springs on June 3rd, 1957, at the age of 86 years.

He was baptized in infancy, and his early life was spent on the farm of his parents in Clayton County.

Mr. Mertens was united in marriage with Anna Meyer on February 22nd, 1897, and eight children were born to this union, seven of whom survive their father's passing. The family moved to Cresco in 1913 and later became united with the Congregational Church. Mr. Mertens was a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.

Mrs. Mertens passed away in 1949, and Mr. Mertens sold his property in Cresco and moved to the residence of his son, Myron, in Lime Springs in 1954, where after a brief illness, he passed away on June 3rd.

Seven children survive Mr. Mertens, as follows: Mrs. Marie Miller of Edgewood, Mrs. Wilma Murdock of Long Beach, Calif., Mrs. Phyllis Bickford of Cresco, Miss Jeannette Mertens of Lime Springs, Miss Anita Mertens of Cedar Rapids, Myron Mertens of Lime Springs, and Mrs. Arlene York of Benton Harbor, Mich. There are twenty-one grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.