Merle D. Clark (1918-2000)

CLARK, FELDMAN, OBRIEN, STEINMETZ, BRODERICK, MCCOMBS, DICE, WARBURTON, PIERATT

Posted By: jane austin (email)
Date: 12/28/2016 at 23:48:02

Merle D. Clark

Funeral services in memory of Merle D. Clark were conducted at 10:30 a.m. Monday, November 6, 2000, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Hartley, Iowa. Father Tim Johnson officiated. Casket bearers were Orlan Lux, Ed Schierholz, Hugh Johnson, Brent Fanning, Roger Gathman and Martin Rosenboom. A Vigil Service was conducted at 7 p.m. Sunday, November 5. Military services were conducted by Arthur W. Kirchhoff Post #288, American Legion of Hartley. Interment was in Pleasant View Cemetery in Hartley. Warner Funeral Home of Hartley was in charge of the arrangements.

Merle D. Clark, the son of William P. and Jessye Feldman Clark, was born August 18, 1918, near Curlew, Iowa. He received his education in country schools near Curlew.

On November 22, 1938, Merle married Eileen O'Brien at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Graettinger, Iowa, and following their marriage they lived in Laurens, Iowa.

Merle enlisted in the U.S. Navy on December 31, 1941, at Des Moines, Iowa. While in the Navy, he fought in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and served aboard various ships including the U.S.S. New Mexico, R.S. New York and the U.S.S. Arlington. Merle was honorably discharged on September 7, 1945, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Following his discharge, they farmed in the Moneta, Everly and Royal areas. They moved to Hartley, Iowa in 1963, where he was a self-em­ployed painter until his retirement.

While living in Hartley, he was a member of the St. Joseph Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus, a lifetime member of the Arthur W. Kirchhoff Post #288, American Legion Post of Hartley, and the V.F.W. Post of Spencer, Iowa.

On Wednesday, November 1, 2000, Merle passed away at the Community Memorial Health Center in Hartley, Iowa at the age of 82.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and four brothers: Belmont, Stanley, Billie Bob and Elwyn.

Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Eileen of Hartley; one son and his wife, Terry and Kathy Clark of Spirit Lake, Iowa; one daughter and her husband, Patricia and Scoti Steinmetz of Hartley; five granddaughters: Kim and her husband, Mike Broderick, Sherry and her husband, Mark McCombs, Julie and her husband, Craig Dice, Jody and her hus­band, Monte Warburton, Jill Steinmetz; nine great-grandchildren; one brother, Robert Clark of Suisira, California; one sister, Vyonne Pieratt of Spencer, Iowa; as well as other relatives and friends.

Hartley (Iowa) Sentinel: Nov 9, 2000, p4