William Gluth

63 year old William "Bill" Gluth of Morgan died on Friday, February 5, 2010 at the New Ulm Medical Center. William (Bill) Clayton Gluth was born October 26, 1946 at the Sleepy Eye Hospital to Clayton and Dorothy (Dittbenner) Gluth. He grew up on the family farm east of Morgan. He attended country school for 4 years and graduated from Morgan High School in 1964, and the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, in 1968. Bill married Lucy Franke on June 13, 1970 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Gaylord. This union was blessed with 3 children: Becky, Brenda, and Brian. After completing his formal education, Bill returned to Morgan to operate the Gluth family farm in partnership with his father Clayton and later with his wife Lucy as his partner. In 2005 he harvested his final field of corn and soybeans as he became disabled with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease). Bill was active in many civic and agricultural organizations throughout his lifetime. He served as Clerk of Eden Township for 30 years. He served on the Cedar Mountain School Board from 1986 to 1998 and held the office of board chair from 1996-1998. He was active in the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, serving as president of the local soybean organization and on the board of the state organization including state secretary. In 2002 he was elected to serve on the Minnesota Corn Research Promotion Council, a position he held until 2006. He had been a member of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Minnesota Crop Improvement Association, Minnesota and Brown County Farm Bureau, and Morgan Lions Club. He was a lifelong member of the Morgan United Methodist Church where he served in various capacities including Administrative Board chair, trustees, and finance chair. In a final gesture of hope for future generations, Bill requested that his body be donated to the University of Minnesota for research in finding a cause, treatment and eventually a cure for ALS. Bill is survived by his wife of 39 years, Lucy Gluth; children - Rebecca (Pete) Haack of LaCrescent, Brenda (Kevin) Lin of Taipei, Taiwan, and Brian (Heidi) Gluth of Champlin, Exchange Student son Marc Heddrich of Dresden, Germany; grandchildren: Tony and Lori Haack, Keanu and Kate Lin; sister Donna Olson of Brownton; mother Dorothy Gluth of Sleepy Eye; sister-in-law Ardella Franke of Maple Grove; brothers-in-law - Clifford (Ruth) Franke of Spring Valley, Melford (LaVern) Franke, of Gaylord; and nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his father Clayton Gluth in 2007 and brother-in-law Larry Olson in 2006.