Memorial services for Ervin Arthur Mielke of Alden will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at the Concordia Lutheran Church of Pickerel Lake. The Rev. Wendy Anderson will officiate. Friends may come one hour prior to the service at the church.
Ervin died Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008, at his home in Alden. He was 74 years old.
Ervin was born Aug. 21, 1934, to Edward and Edna (Barlau) Mielke in Watertown. He graduated high school in 1952 in Buffalo, and then moved in with his uncle Walter Barlau helping him on the farm and selling cattle feed to area farmers. He also started trucking over the road for Nationwide. Ervin owned and operated his own milk truck in the Winsted area. A few years later he bought his first farm in Howard Lake.
On Dec. 6, 1969, he was united in marriage to Sandra Ohm. In 1972, they moved to his second and final farm in Cokato where they raised their five children. Due to illness he sold the farm in 1984 and moved to town. He never stopped helping the other area farmers. In 1991 he moved to Albert Lea to be close to Sandra’s family. He continued helping farmers in the area. He also enjoyed restoring old tractors, gardening, making toys and spending time with his grandchildren.
Ervin will be remembered by friends and family as the most unselfish, honest, hardworking and compassionate person with a good sense of humor. He lived his life for others and found the most pleasure from helping them.
Ervin is survived by his wife, Sandra, and their five children and eight grandchildren: Karen and her fiancé Jeff Rieke and her children Ariel, Alex and Anthony of Fairfax, Alan Mielke and his children Nicholas and Elexa of Clarks Grove, DeAnna (John) Klein and their children Kalin and Adriana of Hutchinson, Jennifer (John) Long and daughter Danielle of Nashua, Iowa, and Michael Mielke of Hutchinson. Also surviving are two brothers: Marvin Mielke of Brandon and Donnie Mielke of Plato; and sister, Lucy (Bing) Dobosenzenski of Clear Lake.
Ervin was preceded in death by his parents; grandparents; sister-in-law, Bonnie Mielke; and aunts and uncles.
He will never be forgotten.