116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Obituaries
The Gazette publishes obituaries on a daily basis. Use the search field above to search for obituaries by name or keyword. Readers can submit an obituary or submit a milestone to The Gazette. The obituary must be submitted before 1 p.m. for publication on thegazette.com at 6 p.m. and in the daily edition the next day, with the exception of obituaries for Sunday publication, which must be submitted by 1 p.m. on Fridays.
Merla Russell
MERLA RUSSELL
Marion
Merla May (Minehart) Russell, 89, of Marion, formerly of the Washington, D.C., area, died Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015, at St. Luke's Hospital, Cedar Rapids. Funeral services: 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Marion, by the Rev. Del Bear. Visitation will be one hour before the service at the funeral home. Private burial: Buck Creek Cemetery, rural Hopkinton.
Survivors include her son, Kenneth Russell of Lorton, Va.; two brothers, Manly LeClere of Cedar Rapids and Nelson (Lorraine) LeClere of Prairieburg; two daughters-in-law, Jill Russell of Alexandria, Va., and Mary Russell of Jacksonville, Fla.; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Lewis; a daughter, Rebecca; three sons, James, John and Earl; two sisters, Merna and Nona; and a sister-in-law, Doris.
Merla was born Oct. 25, 1925, the daughter of Neil and Minerva (Ratcliff) Minehart, in Anamosa. She graduated from Coggon High School in 1943. On June 9, 1945, she married Lewis E. Russell in Washington, D.C. Lewis died Dec. 31, 1977.
She worked as a civil service clerk in Fort Belvoir, Va. Following her retirement, Merla moved home to Iowa and her family roots. Spending time with her family was her greatest joy.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to either the Cedar Valley Humane Society or the American Lung Association in Merla's memory.
Please share a memory of Merla at www.murdoch funeralhome.com under obituaries.
Daily Newsletters