Merton Rettke

Merton Rettke of Odin passed away peacefully surrounded by family at Good Samaritan Pleasant View Nursing Home on Monday, August 14, at the age of 96 years. Services will be at St. Pauls' Ev. Lutheran Church in St. James, MN, on Friday, August 18, with Pastor Martin Lopahs officiating. A visitation will be on Thursday, August 17, from 5 - 8 P.M. at Sturm Funeral Home in St. James and a second visitation from 10 - 11 A.M. prior to the services at the church. Merton Clarence Leo Rettke was born on April 12, 1921, the third son of Henry F. and Elsie (Sanders) Rettke Sr. at home on the farm east of Ormsby, MN. He was baptized at Waverly Lutheran Church and confirmed on June 16, 1935, at St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church in St. James. His confirmation verse was John 3:3. Merton attended country school at District 63 and also St. Paul's Ev. 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 WWII, Merton was tapped to join the military, having completed a physical in Minneapolis, but found himself remaining on the home front due to the dropping of the atomic bomb in August, 1945, near V-J Day. Later the couple moved to different farm sites near St. James and Butterfield, 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 for forty years. He and Carol moved to Odin in 1998, living there until November 15, 2011, and then moving to Pleasant View Good Samaritan Home in St. James. Carol passed away on January 20, 2012, after sixty-nine 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 Viking's 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, MN; daughter-in-law Patricia Rettke of Boyceville, WI; daughter Diane (James) Stenson of St. Peter, MN; son Dale Rettke of St. James, MN; and daughter Dawn (Mike) Johnson of Odin, MN. Surviving grandchildren are Jason (Samantha) Rettke of Pueblo, CO; Chad (Amanda) Rettke of Bethel, MN; Ryan (Elizabeth) Rettke of Redlands, CA; Leah (Dan) Malmgren of Marine-on-the-St. Croix, MN; Naomi Rettke (Dave Bachman) of St. Paul, MN; Philip Rettke of Blaine, MN; Anne Haugen of Mankato, MN; Joe Haugen of Las Vegas, NV; and Hayley Johnson of Odin, MN. Surviving great-grandchildren are Micah Rettke, Pueblo, CO; Micala Burns, Minneapolis, MN; Colton, Parker, Audrey, Edward Merton, and Olivia Rettke of Bethel, MN; Jakob Rettke of Minneapolis, MN; Henry and Beatrice Rettke of Redlands, CA; Hannah, Luke, and Rachel Malmgren of Marine-on the St. Croix, MN; Diego and Josie Bachman of St. Paul, MN; and Maren Haugen of Mankato, MN. Also surviving Merton are his sister Pearl (Harvey) Haglund Stoesz of Mountain Lake, MN; sister-in-law Wilma Rettke of Odin, MN; 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. Visitation 1 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm Thursday, August 17, 2017 Sturm Funeral Home, St. James Chapel 906 - 10th Ave. S. St. James, Minnesota, United States 56081 Visitation 2 9:30 am - 10:30 am Friday, August 18, 2017 St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church, St. James 315 9th Street S. Saint James, Minnesota, United States 56081 Service Information 11:00 am Friday, August 18, 2017 St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church, St. James 315 9th Street S. Saint James, Minnesota, United States 56081 Interment Information Mt. Hope Cemetery, St. James S. CR 27 St. James, Minnesota, United States 56081 Fellowship Lunch will be served at the church following burial.