Merle Hulke

Merle E. Hulke, 74, of No. 8 Schwartz Dr., died 9:08 a.m. Oct. 17, 2003, at Mercy Medical Center, Des Moines.
Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Monday at First Lutheran Church, Ottumwa, with the Rev. Ralph Kister officiating. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday at Reece Funeral Home, Ottumwa, with the family present from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Memorials may be made to First Lutheran Church.
Burial will be 3 p.m. Monday in Davenport Memorial Park.
He was born Jan. 4, 1929, in Davenport, to William and Ruth Hulke. He married Delores B. Doerscher on Oct. 7, 1950, in Davenport. She preceded him in death July 6, 1997. He married Loraine N. Werts on June 15, 2002, in Ottumwa.
He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict as an engineer in the 224th Battalion.
A graduate of Iowa State Teachers College, He had lived in Eldridge and Cedar Falls before moving to Ottumwa in 1969.
He owned and operated Hulke's General Store in Eldridge and was sales manager for Prudential Insurance in Davenport, Cedar Falls and Ottumwa.
He was a member of First Lutheran Church, Men's Breakfast Group, Kiwanis, Walter B. Schafer Post No. 775 Veterans of Foreign Wars and O.B. Nelson Post No. 3 American Legion.
Surviving are his wife; a daughter, Denise M. Chestnut-Day, Ottumwa; two sons, Joel A. Hulke, St. Peter, Minn., and Bruce Hulke, Oswego, Ill.; 10 grandchildren, Melinda Francis, Pfc. David Francis, Elizabeth Chestnut, Zaccaria Hulke, Madison Hulke, Mackenzie Hulke, Nathan Hulke, Courtney Hulke, Holly Dener, Kelsey Dener, Cindy Allison and Scott Patterson; two great-grandchildren, Robert Wayne Mason III and Macey Marie Francis; and a brother, James Hulke, Davenport.
He was preceded in death by two brothers, Fred and Carl Hulke; an infant twin sister, Marilyn Hulke; a stepdaughter, Linda Patterson; and two stepsons, Harold and Ronnie Shirley.