Merle A. Vorwald
March 30, 1931 ~ August 10, 2012
Merle A. Vorwald, age 81, of New Hampton, IA, died on Friday, August 10, 2012 at Mercy Medical Center in New Hampton. Merle Allen Vorwald was born on March 30, 1931 to Victor and Anna (Peterson) Vorwald on the family farm in rural New Hampton. Merle attended country school. He then worked with his family on the family farm until the age of 19 when he went to work for Rath Packing Company where he worked for 32 years. In 1960 Merle met his future wife Dorothy J. Franklin, the couple later married at Trinity Lutheran Church in New Hampton on May 26, 1962. After their marriage the couple made their home in New Hampton where they raised their two children, Debra and Michael. Merle was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Hampton, as well as an active member of the Chickasaw Trail Riders. He enjoyed his horses, camping, gardening, the outdoors and cooking. Merle and Dorothy enjoyed dancing and country music. His greatest love was for his grandchildren; Courteney, Zaccariah and Dillon, he was an extremely proud grandpa. Merle is survived by his loving wife, Dorothy of Elma; his children, Debra (Don) Morrison of Elma and Michael Vorwald of Sheboygan, WI; his grandchildren, Courteney (Ron) Boenig, Zaccariah Refshauge and Dillon (KC Mishak) Refshauge; his sisters, Eleanor Grimm, Hazel Kacher, Valora Vorwald, Jean Tank, Edna Koleno, and Carol Drewelow; his brother, Donald Vorwald and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers Kenneth, Harold and Gerald; his sisters Shirley and Mary Ellen.
Cemetery:
Burial will be in New Hampton Cemetery in New Hampton.
Memorials may be directed to the family.
Friends may greet the family from 6:00-8:00pm Sunday, August 12, 2012 at Conway-Markham Funeral Home in New Hampton. Visitation will continue at the funeral home one hour prior to the service on Monday.
Funeral services for Merle will be held at 10:30am, Monday, August 13, 2012 at Conway-Markham Funeral Chapel in New Hampton, IA with Chaplin Dave Bird officiating.
View current weather.
Memories Timeline
Guestbook
Sign the Guestbook, Light a Candle
Daddy, I Love You So Much, My Heart Aches With Sadness and Pain. In the “Blink Of An Eye”, our life together has stopped. To see you going through the struggle, so weak, yet so strong, fighting a battle all day, each day, to live, not wanting to let go. The Love You Have for your family to be so determined to stay with us, will always be cherished and held dear to our hearts forever. The hurt and pain within my heart and soul when you were no longer getting fluids, no nutrients, I could barely handle that. My Daddy Loved To Cook, Loved To Eat, never again To enjoy a cup of coffee or a favorite meal, so sad. My Big, muscle bound, strong Daddy became a bag of bones and there was no excuse til the end. You taught me how to ride, you taught me how to work hard, I was “Hilda”, Daddy’s Girl. You never said it, yet I always knew how much you Loved me and how proud you were of me. All the Horse Shows we were in together, that was our thing. You’d say,”If it had a motor, tires or skis, you’ll drive/ride it. The Day I made you a Grandpa, was a Proud & Happy Day. You had 3 of those Cherished Days. So Much Love and Devotion. You taught them all to Enjoy the Outdoors, to ride horses, to appreciate camping. Oh, the Good Times. I will miss you everyday, Love You Forever and cherish the Memories. I will carry and pass on the traditions. I Always did My Best to look out for and speak up for you, cause you are my Daddy. You were happy and assured not to have to worry about me, knowing I had Don to take care of & protect me and his precious Grankids. Watch over us from Heaven and Know How Much We Love & Miss You Forever, every single day til we are in Heaven, reunited. God Bless You, Daddy. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Deb, We are so sorry to hear of your loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
Debbie, Know that thoughts and prayers are with you and your family in the passing of ur dad. He was a wonderful person. Glad we had the chance to know him.
Dorothy,
My sympathies to you and your family. I have fond memories of the fun we had while working at Schueth Ace Hdwe. My wife and I are now retired and live in Southern Illinois.
Larry
Gramps, you will always be one the most amazing men that I have ever known. You taught me so much about life and family, it’s unreal. I will miss not seeing you. It still feels like a dream, that I’m going to wake up and you will be a phone call away. The reality is, you’re not. You’re gone, hopefully riding horses in the clouds and fields of heaven. I hope you watch over the boys, mom and dad, and ron and I. I hope your watching when one of us makes you a great grandfather, and I promise, they will know you through pictures and stories. We will make sure they know about the wonderful man that they never got to meet. I only hope that you are saying hi to everyone up there, and enjoying being with family, in no more pain. You were the only grandpa we ever knew and I hope you can understand how much we loved and adored you. Please watch over us, as we continue this crazy journey called life, and make sure you’re there when I graduate college and have babies of my own. I know you will be so proud, smiling in heaven, thinking you did one hell of a job. We love you <3
Gramps, It has been a month & a 1/2 since you went to heaven. Where did the time go, where did our living & memories go. You taught us how to ride, how to shoe a horse, how to clean a turtle, to appreciate the outdoors, campfires good food, family, camping, riding horses, you were always there when there was no strong male influence aside of you in our lives. You were always # 1 in your Gran-kids world. We Love You and Will Miss You Forever, Gramps, Courteney, Zaccariah & Dillon