Obit: Mertens, Henry Anton (1881 - 1958)

Contact: Linda Mertens
Email: mertens@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: : Mertens, Boxrucker, Henrichs, Schuh, Sailer, Schwartz, LaMont, Odervero, McCarron, Christensen, Waldhart, Denzine, Fleisa, Werner, Barthel, Scholz, Rhyner, Simerson, Werner, Marette

----Source - Anna Johnson's Scrapbook

Henry Anton Mertens (18 Jun 1881 - 6 Jul 1958)

Funeral services for Henry Mertens, 77, were held today (Thursday) from St. Louis Catholic Church here (Dorchester, Clark Co., WI). The Rev. Father Gerald F. Schuh, pastor, officiated at the Requiem High Mass at 10:00 a.m. with the church choir singing.

Burial was in Dorchester Memorial Cemetery under the direction of Fuchsgruber Funeral Service which had charge of arrangements. Grandsons were pallbearers: Henry, Dennis, Darryl, Stephen, William and Phillip Mertens, and Earl and Raymond Sailer. An honorary escort was comprised of August Schwartz, Ed LaMont, Otto Odervero, Pat McCarron, Harold Christensen, Chris Waldhart, William Denzine, and Fred Fleisa.

Henry Anton Mertens was born in Scranton, Pa., June 18, 1881, and moved with his parents to Medford (township) at the age of one-and-one-half years.

He worked in logging camps during his youth, taking up farming after his marriage, and later dealing in livestock, which engaged him until his final illness. He and Elizabeth Henrichs were married Oct. 28, 1902, in Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Medford. She survives him.

After their marriage, they settled on a farm in the town of Little Black, northwest of this village, residing there until 1927. During the years they cleared the farm of timber and built it into a productive dairy farm typical of this region.

When the farm home burned in December of 1927, they moved to the village, residing here until the following May, when they moved to the present home.

Mr. Mertens was extensively engaged in the buying and selling of beef and dairy cattle the past 48 years, starting in the business during his later years on the farm. His son Carl became associated with him in 1937, and they did business as Henry Mertens and Son since. In earlier years, he and Fred Werner had worked together.

Surviving besides his widow are four daughters and five sons, all of whom were here for the funeral rites today. They are Mrs. Clara Sailer, Owen; Mrs. Julius (Marie) Barthel and Mrs. Louis (Perlinda) Scholz, both of Milwaukee; George of Waukesha; Alfred of Jefferson; Albert, Carl, Lawrence and Magdelen (Mrs. Arnold Rhyner), all of this village.

Other survivors include 50 grandchildren, 47 great-grandchildren, five half-brothers: Anton Boxrucker of Owen; Joseph Boxrucker of Colby; Jacob Boxrucker of Stetsonville; Casper Boxrucker of Athens; and John Boxrucker of Abbotsford; and a half-sister, Mrs. Martha Simerson, Milwaukee. A son John, who died April 8 of this year, and a sister, Josephine (Mertens) (Werner) Marette, preceded him in death.