Melvin Oliver BURSETH

BURSETH, HAGEN, BURNETT, STENGEL, SANDEN, PLETCHER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 8/10/2008 at 13:08:40

KANAWHA - Melvin O. Burseth, 85, of Kanawha, formerly of Garner, died Friday morning (Sept. 24, 1999) at the Kanawha Community Home. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 27, at the Salem Lutheran Church Chapel in Lake Mills with the Rev. Sara Beth Akre officiating. Burial will be at Winnebago Lutheran Cemetery in rural Lake Mills. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. today at the Mittelstadt Funeral Home in Lake Mills, and one hour prior to services on Monday at the church chapel.

Melvin Oliver Burseth was born June 19, 1914, son of Oscar Theodore and Marie (Hagen) Burseth of Forest City. Melvin was baptized in the Lutheran faith and confirmed on June 30, 1929, by the Rev. John Granskou at Winnebago Lutheran Church. He had broken his hip in December of 1998 and had been in failing health since. Previous to going to Kanawha, he was a resident at Duncan Heights west of Garner. While a resident there, he married Dorothy Marie Burnett on Sept. 15, 1990, at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Garner. Before entering Duncan Heights, he worked as a farmhand for Clifford and Agnes Larson near Miller. Earlier in life he spent farming with his parents in the Joice, Forest City and Leland areas. Melvin was very interested in animals and loved music and gardening.

He is survived by his wife Dorothy of Britt; two brothers, Vernon and his wife, Rose Marie Burseth, of Hartland, Wis., and Orville Ordean Burseth of Holiday, Fla.; two sisters, Doris Stengel of Emmetsburg and Bonnie and her husband, Sterling Sanden, of Lake Mills; along with many nieces and nephews. Melvin was preceded in death by his parents; one brother, Emery Burseth, in 1961; one sister, Irene Pletcher, of Dodge Center, Minn., in 1992; and one brother-in-law, Leonard Pletcher, of Dodge Center, Minn., in 1997.

Blessed be his memory. He will be remembered as a kind and giving man, willing to help friends and neighbors. "Be Thou faithful unto death and I will give Thee a crown of life." Rev. 2:10. (Melvin's confirmation verse).

September 27, 1999
Mason City Globe-Gazette