Obituary Record

Merle Brower
Died on 12/25/2016

Posted on line 27 Dec 2016; Published in The Enterprise 30 Dec 2016

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Merle Brower, age 80, of Watertown, SD, passed away on Christmas Day, December 25, 2016, at his residence. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, December 30, 2016, at Cornerstone United Methodist Church in Watertown. Rev. Steve Anderson will officiate. Music will be provided by Vicki Krucker as organist with Jim & Kathy Konsor as vocalists. The family is requested to meet at the church on Friday by 10:30 a.m. for a prayer service.

Visitation will be at the Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel on Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. and prior to services at the church on Friday.

Burial will be at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Watertown. Military graveside honors will be conducted by Codington County Post #17 of the American Legion, of Watertown, and the Funeral Honors Team of the U.S. Air Force. Honorary pallbearers will be all of Merle’s many friends. Active pallbearers will be: Larry Gauger, Bruce Davidson, Lyle Joslin, Kyle Mathers, Dean Johnson, Ken Norberg, Ron Wagner and Don Tjaden.

Merle was born on January 24, 1936, at home on a farmstead in Pelican Township, Codington County, SD, to Harm C. and Dora (Krull) Brower. He was baptized and confirmed in the Evangelical United Brethren Church in Watertown. Merle and his family moved to the “Round Barn” farmstead south Watertown in 1942 and lived there until 1946, when the family moved in to Watertown. Merle started school at Oxford #4 country school and attended Munger country school through the 4th grade because it closed, as there were only two students attending Munger. Then, Merle attended school in Watertown, graduating from Watertown High School in 1954. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in December 1954 and was stationed at Lockland Air Force Base, Travis Air Force Base, Thule, Greenland, and Ellsworth Air Force Base at Rapid City, SD. He was honorably discharged in 1958 and returned to Watertown.

In 1958, Merle began working for Hayes Lucas Lumber Co. in Clark, SD. From 1962 to 1964, he was manager for UBC Lumber at Estelline, SD, and he was manager of Victoria Lumber in Watertown from 1964 to 1968. In 1968 until 1991, Merle worked as a salesman for Lampert Building Center in Watertown. When Lampert’s went out of business in 1991, he was manager of Northland Building Center in Watertown for several years. He later started his own construction business until he retired in 2007.

On May 11, 1974, Merle was united in marriage to Judith “Judy” A. Taylor at the First Lutheran Church in Blair, NE. The couple enjoyed traveling, especially taking cruises. For over 20 years, Merle and Judy thoroughly enjoyed spending time at their cottage which Merle built, on Big Stone Lake in South Dakota. He was a member of the Cornerstone United Methodist Church in Watertown where he was very active in the church and served on various church committees throughout the years. Merle served on the Trustees committee many times and was very proud to have served on this committee when the church was being built. He willingly volunteered to help with funerals by ushering and assisting the ladies in the kitchen. Merle and Judy enjoyed being with friends on Tuesday morning for breakfast, when getting together to play cards and by attending the XYZ (Xtra Years of Zest) church group and the after church “Sunday Breakfast Bunch”. Merle loved visiting with friends and going to afternoon coffee at Stockman's. He had several hobbies: cooking, reading, “feeding his livestock…birds in his back yard”, hunting, fishing, and woodworking in his shop, especially making wooden toys. He thoroughly enjoyed re-finishing antique furniture for their home and for friends and enjoyed working in his yard, especially in his vegetable and flower gardens where he could always visit with the neighbors “over the fence”.

Merle is survived by his wife, Judy, of Watertown, SD; his sister, Arlene (Elmer) Keller, of Watertown, SD; his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Lyle and Sharalynn Joslin, of Blair, NE; and several nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother and sister-in-law, Harold “Bill” and Mildred Brower; his sister and brother-in-law, LuCille and Lester “Connie” Carruth; and his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Jim and Maralee Taylor.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~ FindaGrave # 174391378

Printed in the Washington County Enterprise on 12/30/2016


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