Marvin Mielke

Marvin Ervin Mielke was born May 29, 1930 in Delano, Minnesota, the son of Edward (d.1976) and Edna (d.2001) Mielke. He was raised on a farm with a younger sister and two younger brothers, until at the age of 19 he started working as a mechanic at a Chevrolet garage. He enlisted in the Navy in January 1951 and was stationed in S.E. Maryland till May 1953, when he attended submarine and submarine engineering school in New London, Connecticut where he met his wife Bonnie. Marvin and Bonnie were married in New London April 15, 1954. They lived in Vallejo, California where he finished his tour of duty in October of 1954. They moved to Fall River, Mass, where he worked as an auto mechanic at a Chrysler dealership until moving to Minnesota where he again worked at a Chrysler dealership. In 1956, he acquired a Texaco service station and repair shop in Osseo and Brooklyn Center with his brother Ervin. Marv and Bonnie bought their house in Minnetonka in 1958, where their two sons, Jerry and Jim, were born and Carol Ann, Bonnie?s daughter from a previous marriage, came to live with them. In 1966, he started working as a sales and service representative for an automotive company, traveling throughout Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. In 1974, he started working as a construction mechanic and then the mechanic shop foreman for Tri-State Drilling in Hamel, until retiring in 1992. In l979, Marv and Bonnie bought a lake lot on Lake Chippewa near Brandon where they built their retirement home, moving there in 1994. Marv has always loved the outdoors, pheasant and grouse hunting, fishing, and especially deer hunting, and NASCAR Winston Cup Auto Racing. After retiring, Marv and Bonnie spent most of their winters in Texas. They really enjoyed Paul?s R.V. Park in Brownsville, because of the wonderful people in the park, being near South Padre Island and several towns in Mexico. Marv?s wife Bonnie of 48 years passed away in 2002. Marv struggled the following year with cancer in his jaw and a heart attack, but grasped a new lease on life when he met Ruth Myers through the Yahoo Personals in the fall of 2004. Marv and Ruth joyfully spent the next 4 � years living actively, traveling, enjoying their kids and grandkids and making occasional visits to the casino. Marv discovered he had a brain tumor on New Year?s Day 2009, just after returning to Minnesota for his dear brother Ervin?s funeral. Marv continued to enjoy his lake home and family, while going through radiation treatments and home hospice care. Marv and his family are very grateful for the wonderful care he received through the Douglas County Hospice Program, especially his favorite nurse, Jill Halstead, and the supportive community of Chippewa Lutheran Church and neighbors throughout his illness. Marvin is survived by his beloved partner Ruth Myers, his son Jerry and his wife Becky of Minnetonka, son Jim of Alexandria, daughters Carol Ann Donner, of Alabaster AL, and Diane Bates of Maylene, AL, brother Donald of Plato, and sister, Lucille Doboszenski and her husband Leander(Bing) of Clear Lake, sister-in-law Sandy of Albert Lea, granddaughters Robbin Roper and husband Russell of Maylene, AL and Annie Mielke of Minnetonka, grandsons John David Carr III and wife Beth of Homewood, AL and Michael Donner of St. Louis Park, Ruth?s daughters Lorry Parrish of Pequot Lakes, and Chris Weiss, Liz Taylor and granddaughter Amanda, all of Mountain Home, ID. Marvin also has several great grandchildren and many loving nieces and nephews in Minnesota, Massachusetts, California and Nevada. Funeral services were held on Monday, August 03, 2009, 1:00 p.m. at Chippewa Lutheran Church in Brandon. Burial was at Chippewa Cemetery in Brandon. Military honors were by Brandon American Legion Post #238