Merle James Elliott was born July 14, 1929 on the family farm east of Colome. His parents were Chauncey and Mary (McElroy) Elliott. Merle attended rural Saathoff School and graduated from Colome High School in 1947. He then attended college. In 1948 Merle met his future wife, DeEtte Stenson, and they married on Oct. 8, 1950.
Merle entered the Army in 1951 and was stationed in Korea with the 25th Infantry Division. He also served with the 1st Marine Division and the Turkish Brigade. He spent eighteen months in Korea, returning to the States in 1953.
Merle and DeEtte purchased a service station in Colome which they operated for three years. Merle then returned to college at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. When he finished with his studies there he and DeEtte moved their family to California where he graduated from San Francisco College of Mortuary Science with a degree in Mortuary Science. The family then moved to Santa Cruz, CA where he became associated with a mortuary there. After ten years, he sold his interest in the mortuary and having an Associate Degree in real estate appraising, he became a real estate appraiser until his retirement in 1991. Upon his retirement he and DeEtte traveled extensively for a year before moving to the Colome area where they built their retirement home.
Merle enjoyed hunting, fishing, and traveling. While in California he and his fishing buddies would dive for abalone and fish for steelhead and salmon.
Merle and DeEtte had a family of four children, Kathleen, Lance, Kevin, and Colleen. He was the happy grandpa of three grandchildren, Mollie (Jason) Donner, Mitchell Elliott, and Alec Nickolls, and four great grandchildren, Marissa, Jacob, Madelyn, and Jack Donner.
Merle was a lifetime member of the Catholic Church having been baptized, confirmed, and married in St. Isidore’s Catholic Church in Colome. He was a lifetime member of the Colome American Legion and served on the Colome Township Board for many years. Merle was a member of the California Funeral Directors and Embalmers Association and a member of the American Institute of Appraisers.
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