{"id":42,"date":"2023-03-10T01:53:54","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T01:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=42"},"modified":"2024-09-18T09:52:12","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T13:52:12","slug":"laura-merkle-1936-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/10\/laura-merkle-1936-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Laura Merkle (1936-2023)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/98.158.76.108\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/8439884.jpg?resize=280%2C300\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43\" width=\"280\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/8439884.jpg?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/8439884.jpg?resize=280%2C300&amp;ssl=1 280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 280px) 100vw, 280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Laura Merkle, 86, of Ohio City, Ohio, passed away Sunday, March 5, 2023, at Van Wert Manor in Van Wert, Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She was born on December 20, 1936 in Decatur, Indiana to the late Wilhelm E. Witte and the late Anna (Weber) Witte.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Laura was united in marriage to Norbert Merkle on April 27, 1957 at Zion Lutheran Church, Friedheim.&nbsp; He survives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She graduated from Monmouth High School, class of 1954.&nbsp; She was a member of St. Thomas Lutheran Church, in Ohio City, Ohio, where she served on the Ladies Aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Laura was employed at Teleflex, in Van Wert, Ohio, where she retired.&nbsp; She previously worked several years at the Fremont Company, in Ohio City, Ohio, as a seasonal worker.&nbsp; She faithfully served her family as a homemaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Laura loved sewing, needlepoint, cross stitch, quilting, and crocheting. Laura loved to garden and preserve the produce that she grew.&nbsp; She also enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren.<\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Survivors include her husband of almost 66 years, Norbert Merkle&nbsp;&nbsp; of Ohio City, Ohio; three sons, Dale (Lisa) Merkle of Middle Point, Ohio, Larry Merkle of Middletown, Ohio, and David (Lisa) Merkle of Ohio City, Ohio; two sisters, Dorothy (Ray) Schapper of Woodburn, Indiana and &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Lavera (Denny) Linker of New Haven, Indiana; five grandchildren, Lora (Rick) Dirmeyer, Ashley (Josh) McDougall, Ashton (Hannah) Colpetzer, Steven (fianc\u00e9 Cassandra Kline) Merkle, and Zacheriah (Shelby) Merkle; and 11 great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Laura was preceded in death by four brothers, Gerhardt Witte, Clarence Witte, Alvin T. \u201cOllie\u201d Witte, and Wilhelm \u201cSammy\u201d Witte; and two sisters, Marie Bradtmueller and Lorena Hockemeyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 11, 2023 at St. Thomas Lutheran Church at 6299 German Church Rd, Ohio City, Ohio, with the Pastor Roger Peters officiating.&nbsp; Burial will follow in the &nbsp;Evangelical Protestant Cemetery, Ohio City, Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Family and friends will be received from 2:00 &#8211; 4:00 p.m. and from 5:00 \u2013 7:00 p.m. on Friday March 10, 2023, at the Zwick and Jahn Funeral Home in Decatur, and one hour prior to the service on Saturday at the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Preferred memorial can be given to St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Ohio City, OH<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Arrangements are by the Zwick and Jahn Funeral Home, Decatur<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Laura Merkle, 86, of Ohio City, Ohio, passed away Sunday, March 5, 2023, at Van Wert Manor in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-obituaries"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19850,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions\/19850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}