Sparks, Merle 1904-1990

SPARKS, THOMAS, BURNHAM, GARRISON, KEENER

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 12/10/2007 at 05:02:34

Merle Sparks

LYNNVILLE - Funeral services for Merle Keener Sparks, 85, of Lynnville, a longtime resident of Jasper County, were held today, March 19, at Smith Funeral Home in Grinnell.

The Rev. Keith Briggs, pastor of the Grinnell First Friends Church, and the Rev. Kenneth Santee, pastor of the Lynnville Friends Church, conducted services. Burial was in Woodland Cemetery in Lynnville.

She died Thursday at the Grinnell General Hospital.

Survivors are a son, Roger, of Manassas, Va.; two daughters, Frances Thomas of Fresno, Calif. and Marilyn Burnham of Grinnell; five grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Dwight, a brother and three sisters.

The daughter of Benjamin and Catherine Garrison Keener, she was born Nov. 3, 1904 in Wapello. She moved with her parents to the Newburg area and later to the Bethel community, southwest of Grinnell. After graduating from Grinnell Community High School in 1922, she taught in rural schools for several years.

She was married to Dwight Sparks, Feb. 14, 1928 in Marshalltown.

Mr. Sparks was associated with the Iowa Highway Department and they resided in several Iowa communities before moving to Lynnville in 1933. ~ The Newton (IA) Daily News, March 1990.