Merlin George Manders (1946-2020)

MANDERS

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 1/31/2020 at 19:51:08

Merlin G. "Merlie" Manders, 73, of LaMotte, Iowa, passed away peacefully on Thursday morning, January 30, 2020, at his home.

A celebration of his life will be held at 11:30 A.M., Monday, February 3, 2020, at First Lutheran Church in Maquoketa. Visitation will be held prior to the service from 10 A.M. until 11:30 A.M. at the church. Burial will be at Holy Rosary Cemetery, LaMotte, Iowa. The Carson Celebration of Life Center in Maquoketa is caring for the family.

Merlin George Manders was born on April 23, 1946 near LaMotte, Iowa, to George and Lena (Till) Manders. He was a 1964 graduate of Andrew High School after attending LaMotte Catholic School. He married Vicki Rae Miller Pruess on July 8, 1994 near LaMotte, Iowa.

"Merlie" had been a member of the National Guard for six years. He then farmed south of LaMotte for 35 years. During that time, he served on the LaMotte Fire Board from 1976 to 2008 and received the Service Award from the LaMotte Community Fire Board for 33 years of service. He also was a member of First Lutheran Church in Maquoketa.

His main hobby was maintaining equipment and farm buildings. He could fix most anything and spent lots of time keeping the buildings on the farm in good shape as well as the lawn and garden. He enjoyed designing things for the farm like a deck, nursery for the plants and an attachment for the snowblower on the skid loader so it wouldn't throw gravel into the lawn.

Those left to honor his memory include his wife of 25 years, Vicki Manders of LaMotte, IA; children, Dan (Rachel) Manders of Cedar Rapids, IA, Robert (Lydia) Manders of CO, and Angella (fiancé Lee Kinsella) Manders of Dubuque, IA; step-children, Misty (Ben) Halmers of CT, and Jason (Chris) Pruess of Roswell, NM; 8 grandchildren; a brother, Ronald (Linda) Manders of LaMotte, IA; and sisters, Mary Ann (Vern) Haxmeier of LaMotte, IA, and Lorraine Manderscheid of Andrew, IA. He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother Kenneth, a sister Janice Pitz, and a son Chris.

Online condolences may be left at www.CarsonAndSon.com.