Merlin Schelle

Merlin Schelle, age 86, of Breda, Iowa, died Friday, October 2, 2009, at St. Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll. Mass of the Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 A.M., Wednesday, October 7, 2009, at St. Bernard Church in Breda. The Celebrant will be Father Joe Dillinger. Lectors will be granddaughters, Tonya Erickson and Jennifer Peterson. Gift Bearers will be grandchildren, Schuyler Loneman, Dominic Loneman, Erin Peterson, and Madelyn Schelle. Mass Servers will be Matt Wessling and Jake Buelt. Eucharistic Ministers will be Mary Schelle, Norma Kennebeck, and Ronald Schelle. Honorary Pallbearers will be grandchildren. Casket Bearers will be grandchildren, Michelle Felder, Kara Kidney, Billy Paul, Tony Schelle and Nicholas Schelle, a nephew, Russell Schelle, and a friend, Rich Mueggenberg. Burial will be at St. Bernard Cemetery in Breda with military honors conducted by the Breda American Legion. Friends may call at the Sharp Funeral Home in Breda after 2:30 P.M. Tuesday. A rosary will be prayed at 3 P.M. Tuesday. There will be a Christian wake service at 5 P.M. Tuesday by St. Bernard Parish. Mr. Schelle was born on March 21, 1923, at Breda, Iowa, the son of Charles and Mary Ann (Goecke) Schelle. He attended St. Bernard School and then worked for his Dad on the farm. He entered the U.S. Army in September 1943 and served during World War II with the 79th Infantry Division at Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, and Central Europe receiving Four Bronze Battle Stars and the Purple Heart Medal. He was a prisoner of war in Germany from January 11, 1945, until March 27, 1945, and was honorably discharged in November 1945 at the rank of Corporal. On July 3, 1945, he was married to Mildred Baumhover at Saint Peter and Paul Church in Carroll. They farmed in the Manson and Halbur communities and then moved to their farm west of Breda and moved to their home in Breda in 1978 and purchased the Breda Hardware Store which they operated for several years. He was a member of St. Bernard Parish, Breda American Legion, and American Ex-Prisoners of War Association. Survivors include his wife, Mildred Schelle of Breda; his children, Kathy Funk of Trinity, North Carolina, Barb Kidney and her husband Kyle of Parderville, Wisc., Linda Johnston and her husband Dennis of Carroll, Charlie Schelle and his wife Karen of Ft. Dodge, and Mike Schelle and his wife Bonnie of Boone; fifteen grandchildren; twenty-one great grandchildren; his sisters, Norma Kennebeck of Breda, Jean Thelen and her husband Lenus of Carroll, and Lois Roets of Des Moines; brothers, Nyle Schelle and his wife Mary of Glidden and Ronald Schelle and his wife Pat of Pfafftown, North Carolina; and sister-in-law, Rosella Schelle of Carroll. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers, Wilmer and Wayne Schelle; brothers-in-law, Fred Kennebeck and Phil Roets; and a sister-in-law, Marita Schelle.

Merlin Schelle

March 21, 1923 - October 2, 2009