Roger L. Drake, age 88, of Bricelyn died of heart failure on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2006, at the Mercy Hospice in Des Moines.

Funeral services will be held Monday, Jan. 16, at 11 a.m. at Bricelyn Lutheran Church with the Revs. Pat Hinkie and Ed Nieman officiating. Interment will be at Bricelyn Lutheran Cemetery with military honors by the Bricelyn American Legion Post. Visitation will be on Sunday at Bruss-Heitner Funeral Home in Bricelyn from 3 to 5 p.m. and one hour prior to the service at the church on Monday.

Roger LeRoy Drake was born on Dec. 16, 1917, the son of Russell and Mata (Lorensen) Drake in Foster Township, Faribault County. He was baptized at the Methodist Church in Wells.

Roger was a medic in the United States Army from 1941 to 1945. He served in the European, African, and Middle Eastern Theaters and was the recipient of two purple hearts, wounded in France in the Normandy Campaign in June of 1944, and again in November during the Rhineland Campaign in Germany. He was awarded a Presidential Citation, Good Conduct Metal and two Bronze Stars.

On June 29, 1946, he was united in marriage to Arvilla Gullord Anderson at the United Methodist Church in Wells. He graduated from the Kansas City School of Watchmaking and served an apprenticeship at Peterson Jewelry in Windom, Minn. Roger opened Drake’s Jewelry in Bricelyn in 1949. His expert watchmaking skills were highly sought after throughout the years with people seeking him out at home long after he retired.

Roger was a member of Bricelyn Lutheran Church, the American Legion, and the Masonic Lodge. He served on the Bricelyn City Council and on the Minnesota Watchmaking Board. He was a resident this past year at the Senior Suites in Urbandale, Iowa.

Survivors include two daughters: Betti (husband Ron) Goemann of Urbandale, Iowa and Verlie (husband Gerald) Kaupa of Plymouth, Minn.; five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren: Michelle (husband Paul) Whitney and their children, Derrick, Dylan, and Micaela of Omaha, Neb., Ryan (wife Jeni) Goemann and their children Riley and Jace of Clive, Iowa, Jeff (wife Jenny) and their son Jayden of Ankeny, Iowa, Phillip (wife Louanne) Kaupa and their children, Kristina, Jonathon, and Daniel of Owatonna, and Julie Kaupa of St. Paul.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Arvilla in 2004, two sisters: Dorothy Weitzel and Ruth Hassing; and two brothers: Russell Jr. and Maynard Drake.