Merlin Heck

Merlin Heck, 94, of Scranton, passed away peacefully of natural causes at his home on August 11, 2020.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, August 15, at Peace Lutheran Church in Glidden with Pastor Alan Miller officiating. Organist will be Becky Miller. Special music by Granddaughter, Corrin (Hale) Perry. Casket bearers will be Shawn Zeigler, Dave Heck, Seth Erickson, Marlin Hein, Larry Seyl, and Jacob Wallace. Honorary casket bearers will be Jerry Seyl, Ron Seyl, Kevin Heck, Doug Crane, Evan Heck, Brett Irlmeier, and Wayne Hart. Burial will be in Immanuel Lutheran cemetery near Lidderdale.

Friends may call at the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Glidden from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, August 14 where there will be a prayer service held at 6:30 p.m. The casket will be moved to Peace Lutheran Church at 10 a.m. on Saturday where visitation will resume until 10:45 a.m.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Glidden and online condolences may be left for Merlin’s family at www.dahnandwoodhouse.com.

Merlin Heck was born on June 3rd, 1926 to Henry and Ida (Hahne) Heck in Coleridge, Nebraska. He attended elementary country school in Coleridge until the age of 10. His family then moved to Fort Lupton, CO. where he continued his education and graduated from high school at the age of 16 in 1943. At age 17, he along with his extended family, moved to Lidderdale. Some belongings had to be moved by way of one railroad car. He continued farming later with his parents in 1946 by Lake City. On the Hahne side, out of 42 grandchildren, he was the last one remaining. On the Heck side, he was also the last remaining of 23 grandchildren.

He was married to Betty Hart of Lanesboro on August 19, 1949. They lived in rural Lake City until 1955 when they moved onto his present homestead of 65 years north of Ralston. Together, they had 4 children. They enjoyed life on the farm, spending time with family and camping trips. Betty passed away on June 25th, 1983 at the age of 52. They were married 33 years.

On March 9, 1985 Merlin married Darlene (Schleisman) Clark in Scottsdale, Arizona. They also made their home north of Ralston. They were members of the Royal Rovers camping group and enjoyed camping. Merlin was the last wagon master before they disbanded. They wintered in Arizona for 15 years. Darlene passed away November 5th, 2014. They were married 29 years.

Merlin was a lifelong member of the Lutheran church. He held numerous offices including vice-president, treasurer and Sunday school board. Along with farming, he was well known for hauling cobs from the surrounding area for 30 years. He actively participated in farming until 2014 at the age of 88. He loved horses, being in parades with his big paint horse and Surrey or watching parades and being involved in the Lake City rodeo. He had fun playing slow pitch and was one of the Ralston team pitchers. He also played Senior ball in AZ. He enjoyed the fun competition of the game of euchre. He was well known for his humerous annual Christmas letters for 15 years.

Surviving are son, Gary (Barb) Heck of Urbandale; 2 daughters; Deborah Young of Carroll and Becky (Kevin) Hale of Spirit Lake; 9 grandchildren, Shawn (Andrea), Joshua (Kristen) and Travis (Samantha) Zeigler, Danielle (David) Rapkin, Dave (Katie) Heck, Mackensey (Seth) Snyder-Erickson, Corrin (Nate) Perry, Jordan (Paul) Hale-Mason and Kiley Hale; 3 great-grandsons, Jaiden and Isaiah Zeigler and Ezra Perry and one sister-in-law, Darie Heck of CO. He also has 3 step daughters; Linda (Henry) Seay of Mountain Home, AR; Peggy (Jim) Irlmeier of Glidden and Amy (Rich) Wallace of Carroll; and step son, Dan (Monica) Clark of Glidden; 8 step granchildren; Samantha (John) Erickson-Viggers, Brad (Amanda) Douglas, Brett (Deb) Irlmeier, Melissa (Tony) Nguyen, Jacob and Megan Wallace, Katie (Jon) Augustus and Abby Clark; 6 step great grandchildren; Elizabeth and Allie Douglas, Kali Irlmeier, Tyler and Zachary Nguyen, and Ayla Augustus. He was preceded in death by his parents, his 1st wife Betty, 1 daughter Vicki (Mark) Zeigler, 1 grandson, Ryan Peterson and his 2nd wife, Darlene. Sisters and husbands Hilda (Don) Crane, Lucille (Victor) Seyl; brother and sister-in-law, Harold (Jessie) Heck, Clarence Heck and many nieces, nephews and other extended family.

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