Funeral services for 82-year-old Fred B. Junker of Springfield, Minnesota will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, August 19, 2014, in the Alliance Missionary Church in Mountain Lake. The church is located at 809 5th Avenue.
Interment will be at Mountain Lake City Cemetery, located at 10th Street North at Midway Road.
Pastor Kevin Walzak will officiate.
Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, August 18, 2014, at Sturm Funeral Home-Mountain Lake, and again one hour prior to the service at the church on Tuesday.
Fred B. Junker passed away on Friday, August 15, 2014, in Springfield.
Fred Ben Junker was born on August 19, 1931, the son of Ben Fred Junker and Margaret Korfe Junker. He attended school in District #181 in Comfrey, Minnesota. When Fred was 12-years-old, he accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior at the Fall Gospel Tabernacle in Delton Township, Cottonwood County, and he dedicated his life to serving the Lord. He loved the word of God and read it daily and also spent time in prayer.
Fred farmed all his life, except for two years when he was drafted in the United States Army in 1952. He was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He was in a training unit and became a Staff Sergeant. He was discharged in October 1954 and on November 12, 1954, he was married to Joan Jensen of Mountain Lake.
They are the parents of five children. He continued farming and took three years of the Veterans Ag Education Program. He was a dedicated member of the Alliance Missionary Church in Mountain Lake and served as a Sunday School teacher, Elder, Board of Administration member, usher and on several other committees. He was also very involved in his community as an Elevator Board member, Township Board member, Public School Board member for 13 years and on the Farm Service Agency for 21 years.
Fred loved children, and he and Joan were foster parents for 35 years for over 100 children. After retiring from farming, Fred continued serving by working as a substitute paraprofessional at the Pace School and also at Mountain Lake Public School. He served as a conservator or guardian to several Cottonwood County men. He was a faithful Gideon member and Mountain Lake Legion member. He also served as a 4-H leader for five years and driver for the RSVP program.
Fred is survived by his wife, Joan Junker, of Mountain Lake; children, Rev. Randy (Deb) Junker of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Charlotte (Bryce) Ray of Palmer, Alaska, Rodney (Bonnie) Junker of Mountain Lake, Colleen (Doug) Johnson of Mountain Lake and Bradley Junker of Wyoming, Minnesota; grandchildren, Samantha (Brandon) LaDoux, Timothy (Tammy) Junker, Tiffany (Ben) Waurms, Nadine (Ryan) Burkhart, Ryan (Melissa) Ray, Rhonda (David) DelReal, Robert (Danielle) Ray, Rochelle Ray, Brandon (Marta) Junker, Mikkala (Daniel) Hup, Chelsey Junker, Jonathan Penn, Joanne Penn and Jason Penn. Fred has 20 great-grandchildren. They will all miss his presence and his prayers. He will also be missed by his four brothers and their wives, two sisters and their husbands and many other relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Ben and Margaret; his brother, Leroy and his grandson, Nathan.