MERLE SPRENKLE

SPRINGFIELD- Services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Daniel Funeral Home in Lamar for Merle Marlene Sprenkle, 78, Springfield, formerly of Lamar, who died Sunday, July 9, 2017, at Neighborhoods at Quail Creek, where she was recovering from back surgery. Burial will be in Mt. Carmel Cemetery.

The family will receive friends following an Eastern Star service beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions are suggested to The Christian Childrens Fund, in care of the funeral home.

Condolences and memories may be shared at www.danielfuneralhome.net.

Survivors include a son and daughter-in-law, Harold and Brenda Sprenkle, Jasper; two grandchildren, Carlos Martinez who lived with Mrs. Sprenkle and Mandy Browning; three great-grandchildren, Iain Knotts and Brianna and Julia Browning and a large extended family.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles, who died Nov. 17, 2009, after 52 years of marriage and a daughter, Ann Martinez, on Dec. 29, 2012.

Mrs. Sprenkle was born May 13, 1939, in Lamar, to Walter and Mary (Clements) Haile. She attended Forest Grove Rural School and was a 1957 graduate of Lamar High School. She married Charles E. Sprenkle on Sept. 28, 1957, at the Boston Methodist Church and they made their home, reared their two children and farmed in the Boston area.

In addition to being a devoted wife and mother, she graduated from Pittsburg State University, fulfilling her dream of becoming a registered nurse. Many will remember her from the many years she cared for patients at Barton County Memorial Hospital and later as a BCMH Home Health Nurse. Always active in the community, she had been a member of Mount Hope Chapter 74 Order of Eastern Star, Calla Rebekah Lodge and Jasper United Methodist Church. After moving to Springfield in 2011, she transferred her membership to Asbury United Methodist Church, the Hartville Rebekah Lodge and the Springfield Eastern Star.