Merlin R. Rickers

Merlin R. Rickers, age 84, of Arcadia, Iowa, died on Wednesday November 11, 2009 at the Manning General Hospital in Manning, Iowa. Funeral Service will be at 2:00 P.M. Saturday, November 14, 2009 at the Zion Lutheran Church in Arcadia with Pastor Benjamin Dose officiating. Interment will be in the Westside Cemetery at Westside, Iowa. Friends may call after 4:00P.M. on Friday at Zion Lutheran Church in Arcadia where there will be a prayers service at 7:00 P.M.. Casket Bearers will be his grandsons: Ty Henderson, Cole Henderson, Michael Rickers, and Mitchel Rickers, and his nephews Gene Thiedeman, and Chip Thiedemam. A son of Roy and Clara (Hinz) Rickers he was born on March 23, 1925 on the family farm south of Arcadia, Iowa. He was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith by Rev Theo Tews at Zion Lutheran Church where he has remained a lifetime member. He graduated from Westside High School in 1942 and operated the family farm until his retirement in 1989 when he moved to Arcadia. On September17, 1946 he married Gladys Wiebers at Zion Lutheran Church. The couple farmed and raised a son Mark and a daughter Cheryl. Merlin maintained an interest in Angus Cattle and woodworking all of his life. He was an avid fan of the Iowa State Cyclones and the Chicago Cubs and loved to listen to big band music. Surviving are his wife Gladys Rickers of Arcadia; a son Mark and his wife Donna who live on the family farm at Westside, Iowa; a daughter Cheryl and her husband Tom (T.L.). of La Junta, Colorado; his grandsons: Michael Rickers of Boulder Colorado and Mitchel Rickers of Laramie, Wyoming, Dr. Ty Henderson and his wife Kate of Austin, Texas, and 1st Lt. Cole Henderson and his wife Des of Syracuse, New York; two great grandsons: Evan Porter Henderson and Ellis Andrew Henderson of Austin, Texas; a sister Lila Thiedeman and her husband Gerald of Westside; a brother –in- law Andrew Wiebers of Denison; and a sister- in- law Lois Wiebers of Carroll. Merlin was preceded in death by his parents Roy and Clara Rickers, his mother and father- in -law Andrew and Gertrude Wiebers, and grandparents: John D. and Ida Rickers and Adolf and Margarite Hinz.