Melvin S Hamre

Melvin S. Hamre, age 94, Clark, died in the Golden Living Center at Clark on Saturday afternoon, July 7, 2012. He had been residing in the living center since December of 2010. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, July 14, 2012 at 1:30PM in the St. Paul Lutheran Church at Clark with The Reverend Robin Schaunaman officiating. Dorothy Fuller will be the organist with congregational singing. The casketbearers will be Alan, Mike, Julian and John Victor Hamre, Lloyd Brekke and Tom LaBrie. The honorary casketbearers will be members of the Clark Rotary Club. Burial will follow in the Pleasant Lutheran Cemetery near Vienna. There will be no visitation. The Furness Funeral Home of Clark is serving the family. He was born Melvin Sander Hamre on May 2, 1918, in Pleasant Township, the son of John and Gertrude (Holven), both immigrants from Norway. He attended the Anderson rural grade school and then graduated from Willow Lake High School in 1936. He then attended the Chillicote Business College in Chillecote, MO for a year. In the fall of 1937 he went to work at the bank in Bryant and in 1939, the Citizens Bank in Vienna. On July 11, 1941 he was inducted in to the US Army and served his country honorably until January of 1946. During his tour of duty, he was united in marriage to Ruth Larson at Cheyenne, Wy. He served in the Quartermaster Corps and later transferred to the Adjutant's General's Department as a 1st Lieutenant. Following his service duty, he returned to Clark County and worked at the bank in Willow Lake and in 1961, moved to Clark and worked at Citizens State Bank, later called Dacotah Bank, serving as President and later as Chairman of the Board. His faith was an important part of his life, being an active member of St. Paul Lutheran Church at Clark, holding various offices and served as the Treasurer for many years. He also was an active member of the St. Paul Lutheran Church Choir for several years. Mel played an important part of the communities he lived in over the years and since living in Clark has been a member of the Clark Rotary Club since 1962, serving in various offices, and was a Paul Harris Fellow and a Benefactor of the Rotary International Foundation. He was a founding member of the Clark Development Corp and enjoyed playing golf in his spare time. Preceding him in death were his parents, his wife Ruth on August 26, 2006, 2 daughters in infancy, Marie Annette and Kathryn Ann, siblings, Ella Brekke, Ted, Julian, Norman and Albert Hamre and Anna Evans. Grateful for having shared in his life are his children, Victor (Mary Jo) Hamre of Anamosa, IA, John (Julie) Hamre of Washington, DC, Anna Hamre of Auberry, CA and Susan Hamre of Sacramento, CA, two grandchildren, Mary Ann Hamre and John V. Hamre both of Cedar Rapids, IA. Furness Funeral Home of Clark is serving the family. Please visit www.furnessfuneralhome.com for further information.