Funeral services for 91-year-old Virgil Bartel of Mountain Lake, Minnesota, will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning, January 21, 2017, at Bethel Mennonite Church in Mountain Lake. The church is located at 301 9th Street North.
Interment will be in Mountain Lake City Cemetery, located on 10th Street North at Midway Road.
Visitation is at Sturm Funeral Home-Mountain Lake Chapel, on Friday, January 20, 2017, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The funeral home is located at 420 10th Street North.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at: sturmfh.com.
Virgil Bartel passed away on Tuesday, January 17, 2017, at the Good Samaritan Society of Mountain Lake-The Village in Mountain Lake.
Virgil Henry Bartel was born May 22, 1925, in Mountain Lake, the son of to Henry and Bertha (Voshage) Bartel. He was baptized at the First Mennonite Church in Mountain Lake in 1943 and attended Mountain Lake schools.
Virgil was united in marriage to Pauline Janzen on August 29, 1947, at Bethel Mennonite Church.
He grew up on the family farm and later continued the tradition of farming while raising turkeys, and later, hogs. Virgil was a man of the land who didn’t care for the spotlight, nor was he a fancy man, but he would change into clean clothes when he needed to go to town for supplies! He loved working long hours and developed a reputation for his woodworking projects. Virgil helped build the cabinets for the vestibule at Bethel Mennonite Church, and every Christmas the grandchildren would receive a homemade gift made by his hands.
He was a member of Bethel Mennonite Church, where he served as a Deacon, a Trustee, helped with MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) fundraising and donations, and always made sure the car was clean for Sunday. Virgil also served on the Co-op Board and Heritage Village Board.
Survivors include his children, Marjean (Carl) Bjorklund and Neil (Tammy) Bartel, all of Mountain Lake; grandchildren, Heather (Jeffrey) Fredericksen of Mountain Lake, David (Bridget) Menke of Jacksonville, Florida, Lucas (Candice) Bartel of Butterfield, Minnesota, Lindsay (Dusty) Wassenaar of Lakefield, Minnesota and Lance (Katie) Bartel of Mountain Lake; great-grandchildren, Ryan, Zachariah, Noah, Brittney, Dillyn, Ethan, Cambrie, Penny, Tenley, Maggie and Piper; and sister, Marcella (Herbert) Fast of Mankato, Minnesota.
He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Pauline in 2015; and brother, Marvin.