Advertisement

Merlin Frederick Kruger

Error message

  • Warning: array_merge(): Expected parameter 1 to be an array, bool given in _simpleads_render_ajax_template() (line 133 of /home/pdccourier/www/www/sites/all/modules/simpleads/includes/simpleads.helper.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to get property 'settings' of non-object in _simpleads_adgroup_settings() (line 343 of /home/pdccourier/www/www/sites/all/modules/simpleads/includes/simpleads.helper.inc).
  • Warning: array_merge(): Expected parameter 1 to be an array, bool given in _simpleads_render_ajax_template() (line 157 of /home/pdccourier/www/www/sites/all/modules/simpleads/includes/simpleads.helper.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in include() (line 24 of /home/pdccourier/www/www/sites/all/modules/simpleads/templates/simpleads_ajax_call.tpl.php).

Merlin Frederick Kruger, 93, of, Lansing, Iowa, formerly of Waukon and Harpers Ferry, Iowa, died Saturday, April 6, 2019, at Thornton Manor in Lansing. 

Merlin was born on Aug. 6, 1925, on the Ludlow Township, rural Waukon, Iowa, farm of his parents, Arthur Elmer and Esther Wilhelmina (Winke) Kruger. He was baptized and confirmed at Zalmona Presbyterian Church in rural Waukon. Merlin attended Ludlow #2 rural elementary school, graduated from Waukon High School in 1942, and from Waukon Jr. College in 1944. Following school, he worked in the Allamakee County Auditor’s Office for a few years. From 1948 to 1951, Merlin served in the U.S. Army where he spent part of his duty as a chaplain’s assistant in Okinawa during the Korean War. On June 1, 1952, he married Charlotte Alma Kosbau at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waukon. Charlotte died in 1994. On Oct. 28, 2000, he married Virginia Cassel Ziegler, also at St. John’s. Virginia died in 2015.

Merlin spent his working years in a variety of occupations. In 1951, he began a 31-year career with Waukon State Bank, first as a teller and eventually a loan officer and vice president. After retiring from the bank, he served as city clerk of Waukon until 1990. In his later years, he worked at both Martin Funeral Home and the Waukon Golf and Country Club. He was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church, American Legion in Harpers Ferry, VFW in Waukon, and the Eagles Club in Prairie du Chien.

Merlin loved to garden, maintaining a greenhouse at his home as well as beautiful plants and flowers in his yards. After living in Waukon for many years, Merlin moved to Harpers Ferry in 1996, where he loved spending time at his home on the Mississippi River. He was an excellent cook and particularly good baker known for his desserts, breads and rolls. Music was an important part of his life. He played the organ and sang for countless funerals and weddings and was an active member for many years in the Little Switzerland of Iowa Harmonizers, a barbershop singing chapter in Waukon. He also enjoyed playing cards, bar bingo and golf. As both his wives, Charlotte and Virginia, faced health challenges in their later years, Merlin proved to be a dedicated and very capable caregiver to each of them. Merlin made friends easily and enjoyed spending time with all of them. Not having children of his own, he was particularly appreciative of spending family time with his niece and nephews and Virginia’s children and their families.

Survivors include his sister, Janice McNitt of The Villages, Fla., two nieces, Kris (Eaton) Coté of Waukon and Julie Rundle of California; three nephews: Steve (Boni) Hanson of Harpers Ferry, John Hanson of St. Charles, Ill., and Ron Kruger of West Union, Iowa; two step-daughters: Barbara (Deane) Miller and Karen Phillips, both of Watertown; five step-grandchildren; six step-great-grandchildren; two step-great-great-grandchildren; along with other relatives and many friends. 

He is preceded in death by his parents; his wives Charlotte and Virginia; sisters, Grace Kruger and Ruth Hanson; brothers: Virgil and Kermit Kruger; and a stepson-in-law Joe Phillips.

Casketbearers are Steve Hanson, John Hanson, Eaton Coté, Dan Schulte, Bob Handburg, Mark Sherman and Josh Roe.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday, April 10, at 11 a.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waukon, with Pastor Wayne Ellingson and Irmgard Ellingson officiating. Burial with military rites will be at Oakland Cemetery, Waukon. Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Martin Funeral Home in Waukon. 

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Harpers Ferry American Legion or the Harpers Ferry Library.

Rate this article: 
No votes yet