Middle River - Mervin Milsten, 81, died Sunday, July 25, 1999 at the Roseau Area Hospital.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. today (Wednesday, July 28) at First Lutheran Church in Middle River with Reverend Erling Huglen officiating. Lois Peterson will be the organist, and special music will be provided by the Ladies' Trio. Maurice Milsten will deliver the eulogy. Casketbearers will be Jim Fiedler, John Fiedler, Jon Noethe, Dennis Allen, Allan Hovda and Ivan Hirst. Interment will be in First Lutheran Cemetery in Middle River.
Visitation was held on Tuesday, July 27 after 5 p.m. with an 8 p.m. prayer service at Collins Funeral Chapel in Middle River. Visitation will also be held for one hour prior to services at the church.
Mervin Samuel Milsten was born on May 17, 1918 at Faith, the son of Alfred and Maybell (Paulsberg) Milsten. He was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith and graduated from Mahnomen High School in 1937.
Merv worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps camp at Bagley and in 1943 graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture.
On December 19, 1943 he was united in marriage to Ruth Luchmann at Lewiston. The couple resided at Preston where Merv was the Fillmore county agent for three years. They then moved to Lewiston where he taught veteran's agriculture for a year. They moved to Mahnomen where he also served as a veteran's agriculture instructor.
In 1963 the couple moved to Middle River where they farmed and Merv was the high school vocational agricultural instructor until 1972. He was the the veteran's agricultural instructor until 1981 when he became fully engaged in farming.
Merv was a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity and Alpha Zeta Agriculture Education Honor Society. He was a member of First Lutheran Church of Middle River and the Middle River American Legion.
He was one of the originators of the Middle River Goosefest, a past president of the Middle River Community Club, served on the Marshall County Fair Board and was active in Greenbush Sheep Days over the years.
Mervin is survived by his wife, Ruth; one son, Maurice (fiancee Rachel Fink) of St. Louis Park; two daughters, Marie Milsten Fiedler of St. Paul and Karen (Ron) Martin of Roseau; nine grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; three brothers, Earl (Maryann) of Lake Oswego, OR, Al (Ramona) of Casa Grande, AZ and Floyd (Marie) of Kent, WA; two sisters, Florence Olson of Tacoma, WA and Marlys (Dr. Orhan) Baybara of Edmore, MI; and several nieces, nephews and other relatives.
He was preceded in death by his parents; four brothers and two sisters. A00003B1999JL28