Funeral Services for Merrill B. Parker, age 81 of Lemmon, will be held at 1:30pm Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at Spencer Memorial Presbyterian Church in Lemmon. Pastor Florence Hoff and Pastor Web Brower will officiate with burial in Greenhill Cemetery.


A family service will be held at 7:00pm on Monday evening at the Evanson-Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon.

Special music will be provided by Marilyn Willey and Bart Damjanovich.



Serving as casketbearers are Curtis Wells, Greg Bowser, George Kostelecky, Bill Erhart, Ed Froelich, and Chuck Peterson. All friends are considered honorary bearers.


Merrill Blaine Parker Jr. was born on December 26, 1928 in St. Joseph, Missouri to Merrill Sr. and Katherine (White) Parker. He left this life to be with the Lord on June 3, 2010.


He grew up in Kansas and attended school in Highland and Hiawatha. Then he moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado. There he participated in track and went to state in sprints and long jump. He graduated from high school in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1947.


After high school, he did custom harvesting with his parents for several years and bought a farm north of Thunder Hawk, South Dakota in 1948. He married Lennice Gladstone on June 17, 1953. They lived in Lemmon, SD and raised 4 children; Robert, James, Linda, and Ross.


While farming and ranching, Merrill also was a car salesman. He worked for George Papke from 1952 to 1954. He sold cars with Todd Olson from 1955 to 1960. He then worked with Roy Lohrius as a mechanic from 1960 to 1965. He managed the Lemmon Auto for Vaughn Papke from 1965 to 1973. Merrill always enjoyed selling cars and making friends. He had a great love for farming and truly enjoyed raising cattle. After his father became ill, Merrill returned to full time farming and ranching.


He was an active member at Spencer Memorial Presbyterian Church and served as an Elder and Deacon. Over the years he was active with the Cub Scouts, fishing, hunting, and enjoyed all sporting activities. He especially loved watching his children in sports and always enjoyed spending time with his children and grandchildren.


Surviving are his wife, Lennice, his children, Robert and wife Sandie, Green River, WY; James, Spearfish, SD; Linda and husband Mark Sandgren, Golden, CO; and Ross and wife Karin, Colorado Springs, CO; grandchildren, Nicholas, Daniel, Joshua, Jonathan, Matthew, Nathan, Christina, Elizabeth, Jeffrey, Jessica, Jennifer, and great-grandchildren, Berlin and Brayden.


He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, LaVern, and brother-in-law, Paul Kakos, and daughter-in-law, Lorie (Vig)Parker.

Our special thanks to everyone at the Western Horizon Care Center for the loving care and being part of Merrill's family for the past 5 years.



A memorial has been established to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. www.michaeljfox.org.


Visitation will be on Monday from 1:00 to 7:00pm, Tuesday from 9:00 to 12:00 noon at the Evanson-Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon and one hour prior to services at the church.