Merele D. Petersen

Munderloh~Smith Funeral Home 312 McCabe St. Pender, Nebraska 68047 (402) 385-3093 www.munderlohfuneralhome.com Bancroft, Nebraska Merele Dale Petersen, 86, of Bancroft, Nebraska, passed away on Sunday, February 26, at Legacy Garden Rehabilitation and Living Center in Pender, Nebraska. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, February 29, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Bancroft with the Rev. Philip Hale officiating. A visitation will be held on Tuesday from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Munderloh~Smith Funeral Home in Bancroft. Interment will be in the Bancroft Cemetery. Merele was born on July 6, 1925 in Lyons, Nebraska, the son of Hans and Christine (Mohlgaard) Petersen on a farm west of Lyons, NE. He was the fifth child of eleven children. He was confirmed at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Bancroft by Rev. Walter Homann, where he had been a lifelong member. He attended Neary School west of Lyons and Lyons High School. On August 4, 1948 in Grand Island, Nebraska, he married Luella Anderson of Bancroft. This union was blessed with three children: Fayette, Galen and Clark. Merele and Luella lived on their farm west of Bancroft for forty eight years. In 1996, they moved into Bancroft. Merele was active in farming and raising livestock and enjoyed working at the Pender Sale Barn two days a week. Merele and Luella looked forward to wintering in McAllen, Texas for the last 14 years. There he volunteered his time harvesting in fruit orchards and vegetable fields, and helping build an orphanage in Reynosa, Mexico. Merele is survived by Luella, his loving wife of 63 years, and his children and their families: daughter Fayette Bremerman and her husband Rollin of Pender, son, Galen and his wife Nancy of Bancroft, and son Clark and his wife Laurie of Bancroft, Fayette and Rollin Bremerman's children: Angela Cargill and her husband Gale and their children Nicole, Kelsey and Trevor, Tammie Batenhorst and her husband Shane and their children Bailey, Maci and Spencer, Heather Ott and her husband Steven and their children Chase, Krista and Tymarie, Kathie Meyer and her children, Allissa, Ariel, Ashton, Kaleb and Adison, Sonya Arduser and her husband Travis and their children Gwen, Ramsey and Grady, and Rebecca Pierce and her husband Brian and their son Jaxon. Galen and Nancy Petersen's children: Corey and his wife Stacie and their children Brittney, Mickayla and Derek, Tracey Bonneau and her husband Troy and their children, Tristan, MaKenna, Cadence and Corbin, Ryan and his wife Anna and their daughter Peyton, and Lindzie Munderloh and her husband Mitch, Clark and Laurie Petersen's children: Adam and his wife Rachel and their son Britton, Riley, Brady and Mariah Meryl Petersen. He is also survived by brothers Hans, Howard, and Norman as well as many nieces and nephews. Merele was preceded in death by his parents, Hans Sr. and Christine Petersen, brothers: Chris, Bert, Leeby, LeRoy, and Robert, and sisters Eva King and Mary Ann Henjes.