Funeral services for 96-year-old Merton Rettke of Odin, Minnesota, will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday morning, August 18, 2017, at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in St.James, Minnesota, with Reverend Martin Lopahs officiating. The church is located at 315 9th Street South.
Burial will be at Mount Hope Cemetery, located in rural St. James, south of the city on Watonwan County Road #27.
Visitation will be at Sturm Funeral Home-St. James Chapel, on Thursday, August 17, 2017, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The funeral home is located at 906 10th Avenue South. A second visitation will be held at the church the day of the funeral service from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at: www.sturmfh.com.
Arrangements are with Sturm Funeral Home-St. James Chapel.
Merton Rettke passed away peacefully on Monday, August 14, 2017 at Pleasant View
Good Samaritan Society in St. James, surrounded by family.
Merton Clarence Leo Rettke was born at home on a farm east of Ormsby, Minnesota on April 12, 1921, the third son of Henry F. and Elsie (Sanders) Rettke Sr. He was baptized at Waverly Lutheran Church and confirmed on June 16, 1935, at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in St. James. His confirmation verse was John 3:3.
Merton attended country school at District 63 and also St. Paul’s Evangelical
Lutheran Christian Day School, and high school at St. James Public School,
graduating in 1941. Merton enjoyed playing quarterback on the football team
at St. James High School. The team was set to play Madelia on November 11,
1940, the day of the great Armistice Day blizzard in Minnesota, but as
Merton liked to say, “We never made it to that game!” He was honored as a
senior to be awarded a golden football as the team’s most valuable player.
During his years in high school he met the love-of-his-life, Carol Wright,
as a junior in study hall. They graduated together in 1941 and were married
on July 17, 1942, at the First Lutheran Church parsonage in St. James.
Merton and Carol lived for the first few years of their married life with
his widowed father, Henry Rettke Sr.; sister, Pearl and brother, Henry Jr.,
helping his dad farm and raise his little brother. The couple was delighted
in June 1943, when their oldest son, Gary, was born and again in November,
1945, when second son, Dennis, was born. Near the end of World War II, Merton was
tapped to join the military, having completed a physical in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but
found himself remaining on the home front due to the dropping of the atomic
bomb in August 1945, near V-J Day.
The couple later moved to different farm sites near St. James and Butterfield, Minnesota, and their other children were born: Diane, Dale and Dawn.
Merton was a life-long farmer in rural St. James and Butterfield, farming a
Tilney Farm in Odin Township, Watonwan County for 40 years. He and Carol moved to Odin in 1998, living there until November 15, 2011, when they then moved to Pleasant View
Good Samaritan Home in St. James.
Carol passed away on January 20, 2012, after 69 years together. During his years as a resident at Pleasant View, Merton was honored to be crowned King, and also honored on the field at half-time at a St. James High School Homecoming football game.
Merton enjoyed farming with his John Deere equipment; staying knowledgeable
about plants, animals and birds; watching John Wayne westerns and Vikings’
football and being with his family.
He will be remembered as an introspective, kind, gentle and patient man who never spoke a harsh or critical word. He patiently and gracefully endured the last few years of
his life, unable to walk, and suffering from dementia, with his hallmark courteous and amiable disposition, and a strong faith in Jesus Christ.
Surviving Merton are son, Gary (Susan) Rettke of Blaine, Minnesota; daughter-in-law,
Patricia Rettke of Boyceville, Wisconsin; daughter, Diane (James) Stenson of St.
Peter, Minnesota; son, Dale Rettke of St. James and daughter, Dawn (Mike)
Johnson of Odin, Minnesota. Surviving grandchildren are Jason (Samantha) Rettke of
Pueblo, Colorado; Chad (Amanda) Rettke of Bethel, Minnesota; Ryan (Elizabeth) Rettke of
Redlands, California; Leah (Dan) Malmgren of Marine-on-the-St. Croix, Minnesota; Naomi
Rettke (Dave Bachman) of St. Paul, Minnesota; Philip Rettke of Blaine; Anne
Haugen of Mankato, Minnesota; Joe Haugen of Las Vegas, Nevada and Hayley Johnson of
Odin. Surviving great-grandchildren are Micah Rettke, Pueblo; Micala Burns, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Colton, Parker, Audrey, Edward Merton and Olivia Rettke of Bethel; Jakob Rettke of Minneapolis; Henry and Beatrice Rettke of Redlands, California; Hannah, Luke, and Rachel Malmgren of Marine-on the St. Croix; Diego and Josie Bachman of St. Paul; and Maren Haugen of Mankato. Also surviving Merton are his sister, Pearl (Harvey) Haglund Stoesz of Mountain Lake, Minnesota; sister-in-law, Wilma Rettke of Odin and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
Merton was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Carol; son, Dennis Merton Rettke on August 29, 2012; brothers, Raymond, Erwin and Henry Rettke Jr. and many brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law.
