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Obituary for Merle Leroy Bassett
Merle Leroy Bassett, 85, of Casey, Iowa passed away January 8, 2015 at the Guthrie County Hospital. Visitation will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M. Sunday, January 11, 2015 at the Johnson Family Funeral Home in Stuart. Funeral services will be held 10:30 A.M. Monday, January 12 at the St. John’s Lutheran Church in Casey where a gathering of friends and family will be held prior to the service from 9:30 to 10:30 at the church. Burial will follow the service in Dalmanutha Cemetery in rural Guthrie County. Memorial contributions may be made to the Merle Bassett Memorial Fund and may be sent in care of Johnson Family Funeral Home.
Merle was born in Casey, Iowa to his parents Earl and Augusta Luhrs Bassett. He attended and graduated from Casey High School with the class of 1947. He studied accounting at Commercial Extension College of Commerce in Omaha, Nebraska. Merle enlisted in the United States Navy in September of 1948 and during this time was stationed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge. Following his military service, Merle was employed by Meadow Gold Foods in Des Moines and Dubuque.
In June 1952, Merle married Darlene Sunds at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Casey. They made their home in Des Moines where Merle was employed by SuperValu Stores Inc. and Darlene taught in the Des Moines Public Schools. In 1956 Merle accepted a promotion to the SuperValu home office in Hopkins, MN and lived in St. Louis Park, MN.
Three sons were born in Minneapolis, Douglas, David, and Gregory. In 1968, they returned to Iowa to join the family farm and formed Sunds Bassett Ranch. Merle farmed, raised livestock, and also worked for Federal Crop Insurance. He joined Employers Mutual Company (EMC) in the Reinsurance Division until his retirement in 1996. He continued to work part time for EMC for several years.
Merle loved his family, his church, and nature. He enjoyed the piano and singing with choirs. He created many stained glass gifts throughout the years.
