o spend time with family, work on the farm, sing in the church choir and ride his motorcycle. Merle also enjoyed spending time in Florida for six weeks every year with his sister, Alta and daughter Carol and family, going to morning coffee at the Klemme Co-op, pitching horse shoes, watching the Hawkeyes, pitching softball until the age of 62 and teasing everyone, especially, his grandchildren and Grandma. He was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church where he sang in the choir, Klemme Lions Club and the North Iowa Road Riders. Merle is survived by his wife, Sonja; children, Mary Jo (Doug) Depping of Thornton, Dennis (Carol) Bertilson of Fithian, IL, Carol (Donald) Saling of Jacksonville, FL, Dean (Janice) Bertilson of Garner, Lori (Dan) Wolf of Klemme, Carolyn (Russ) Clabaugh of Iowa City and Mona Erdahl (Jim) Jones of Britt; twenty grandchildren; eighteen great-grandchildren; a sister, Alta Noland of Ft. Myers, FL; brother-in-law, Merle (Mary) Klinge of Garner; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; first wife, Jean; second wife, Esther; a son, Douglas Bertilson; three brothers, Eldon, Maynard and Adrian Bertilson; a sister, Erdene Anderson; a sister-in-law, Lorraine Bertilson; and brothers-in-law, Tory Nodland and Dale Anderson.