Services for James Dean Merschman
Thu, 01/09/2020 - 1:24pm
admin
God’s beloved child, James Dean Merschman, joined the Saints Triumphant in heaven on January 9, 2020. The service of Christian burial will be held at 11:00 am on Monday, January 13, 2020 at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Bagley. Lunch at FireSide will follow the service. Internment will take place at 2 pm at Concordia Lutheran Cemetery. Military honors will be accorded by Irvin Blix American Legion Post #16 of Bagley. The visitation will be Sunday evening from 3-5 pm with a prayer service at 5 pm, as well as one hour prior to the service.
Born to parents Eugene and Gloria Merschman on April 14, 1954, Jim was the youngest of three boys. With sponsors grandmother Regina Merschman and uncle Ken Merschman, he was baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit on April 24, 1954. He was confirmed in the Catholic faith on April 29, 1966. He attended Bagley Public Schools and graduated with the BHS class of 1972. After attending Bemidji Vo-Tech for carpentry, he was employed by Oswald Hanson.
Confirmed in the Lutheran faith on April 24, 1974, he became a member of Concordia Lutheran Church and it was there that he was joined in marriage to his high school sweetheart, Janey Louise, on June 22, 1974. God blessed them with three precious children: Janelle Louise, Janice Lyn and Jared James. He was also Grampa Jim, the king of the slip & slide and provider of chocolate kisses to his six grandchildren: Charlotte James, Taya Lyn, Emma RaeAnn, Paityn Jo, Conner John, and Owen Thomas.
Together, Jim and Jane joined the Army under the husband-and-wife program in April 1975, becoming Air Traffic Controllers in the Signal Corps, 14th Aviation Unit and living in Germany to complete their three-year enlistment. Honorably discharged in 1978, they returned to Bagley. Jim joined Oswald in business and they operated Hanson-Merschman Construction until Jim purchased his in-law’s store at the junction of Hwy 2 and CR 7 in 1982, and renamed it Merschman’s Corner Store. He became a substitute rural route carrier for the US Postal Service in the spring of 1983. The store was closed in May of 1989 when Jim became a regular carrier for the Post Office in Bagley and it was there he spent his career until retiring in January of 2014. He was honored for his ‘million miles’, thirty years of accident-free driving, before he retired.
A member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, he held the job of treasurer for over thirty years, as well as mowing and upkeep at the church. He was also a member of the Irvin Blix American Legion Post #16 of Bagley.
Jim is survived by his loving wife, Jane and their family: Janelle & Mark Speerschneider and Charlotte; Janice & Tom Hawkins, Taya, Paityn and Conner; and Jared & Kimberly Merschman, Emma and Owen. He is also survived by his mother Gloria, brothers Dale (Bernice) and Dennis (Jacki), brothers-in-law Joe (Karen) Merseth and Mark (Melissa) Merseth, his nieces and nephews, and many relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his father, Eugene, and in-laws Joe and Hennie Merseth.
In lieu of flowers, memorials to Concordia Cemetery or Our Savior’s Lutheran Church are preferred. Blessed be his memory…
Messages of condolence may be sent to ceasefuneralhome.com
