Elmer August Gehrke, 87, Luverne, died Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2001, in Luverne Hospice Cottage.
Services were Saturday, Aug. 25, at Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne.
Elmer Gehrke was born to Emil and Bertha (Grippentrog) Gehrke on March 4, 1914, in Beaver Creek. He was raised on the family farm near Beaver Creek. He attended country school and high school in Beaver Creek.
He married Mae Ellsworth on June 10, 1936, in Sioux Falls, S.D. He was associated with contractors who built Army bases, prison camps, ammunition dumps and the atomic plant at Hanford, Wash., until 1945. They farmed for 35 years in Beaver Creek Township. He retired from farming in 1974 but continued to do custom work while retired. Mrs. Gehrke died on June 6, 1978.
He married Audrey Schlump on Feb. 7, 1979, in Jasper. They lived in Luverne where he worked at M-M Distributing, was a maintenance man at Mary Jane Brown Good Samaritan Center and as a crossing guard for many years in the Luverne School District.
Mr. Gehrke was a member of Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne.
Survivors include his wife, Audrey Gehrke, Luverne; one daughter and son-in-law, Sharon and Michael Biggs, Webster City, Iowa; one stepson and his spouse, Dale and Aggie Schlump, Sioux Falls; and three stepdaughters and their spouses, Pearl and Keith Ackerman, Hartley, Iowa, Shirley and Randy Herman and Sharon and Mark Janssen, all of Ellsworth; two grandchildren; 11 stepgrandchildren; two great-grandchildren; six stepgreat-grandchildren; and one brother, Walter Gehrke, Beaver Creek.
Mr. Gehrke, was preceded in death by his first wife, Mae, one brother, Edward Gehrke, an infant brother, and two sisters, Hattie Wiese and Amanda Waege.
Engebretson Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.