Steve Merfeld is using his experience from years of interacting with grieving families as he’s serving as the campaign director of the United Way of Freeborn County this year.

Ann Austin, director of the United Way of Freeborn County, said Merfeld brings a sense of vision to the role of campaign chairman, and she said Merfeld would not focus merely on fundraising, but also on bringing a sense of education, giving and volunteering.

Merfeld is originally from Mason City, Iowa, but he moved to Albert Lea in 1989 to work at Bonnerup Funeral & Cremation Services. He started working for the United Way in 1995.

As business manager and part owner at Bonnerup, Merfeld overlooks the daily operations and is in charge of scheduling. He frequently meets with families to make arrangements for services.

“We deal with such a diverse clientele here, and you’re seeing them at their worst time,” Merfeld said. “And through the grieving process, I think I’ve learned over the years to have compassion for those people that are in need. The United Way is definitely dealing with those people that are in need.”

Age: 52

Address: Keystone Drive, Albert Lea

Family: wife, Cynthia, daughters: Nicolle, 24, and Danielle, 20.

Livelihood: Part owner and business manager of Bonnerup Funeral & Cremation Services; sexton, St. Theodore’s Cemetery; campaign chairman of the United Way of Freeborn County

Interesting fact: He listens to Michael Jackson and other music from the ’70s and ’80s when he runs.

Bonnerup office manager Connie VanRyswyk said she’s helped Merfeld with his scheduling as he’s been busing with his role as campaign chair, the move at Bonnerup Funeral & Cremation Services and his role as director of the Land Between the Lakes Triathlon.

When working with a grieving family, Merfeld said it’s important to be compassionate.

“When he’s working with a family, it’s like they’re the only people that he has to deal with. He’s so attentive to their needs,” said Connie VanRyswyk, office manager at Bonnerup. She also said he can be upbeat. “When we’re not serving a family, he’s very upbeat.”

While it’s important to be compassionate, Merfeld said he tries to take people’s mind off their grief to instead remember more positive things.

“You have to have a sense of humor to be a funeral director. You can’t live every day down in the dumps from the grieving process, so you’ve got to have a lighter side to keep your sanity,” Merfeld said.

Merfeld does this is by trying to “pull out the good memories” with a family as he meets with them to plan a funeral.

“If they say there’s a situation that they’ve dealt with in their lives with mom or grandma or whomever, I try to expound on that and get them to smile and laugh, and remember the good things,” Merfeld said.

Merfeld said talking with a grieving family and allowing them to smile and laugh can be a way of emotionally connecting with what has happened. This is something Merfeld said applies to many of the people the agencies associated with the United Way are aiming to help.

“I think the United Way is very much similar in the fact that you’re dealing with people who are down on their luck financially and psychologically, and you want to lift them up. You want them to sometimes, not forget, but get away from their problems and see that life is good,” Merfeld said.

Austin described Merfeld’s sense of humor as dry, and she said that while she sometimes doesn’t know if he’s joking or being serious, his humor is very charming.

“This year has been a difficult one for many people. By focusing on the positives, by maybe making it a little light-hearted, it will bring people out of that perception that we’re in a recession,” Austin said.

Merfeld is also sexton of St. Theodore’s Cemetery. He manages lot sales and dealing with the daily operations at the cemetery. Merfeld is an active member of St. Theodore’s Catholic Church, and he often has breakfast with a group of friends after church.

When Merfeld isn’t working at Bonnerup or with the United Way, he spends a lot of his time running. “Not as much as I used to because I’m old now.”

He is a director for the Albert Lea Triathlon, and he’ll run a few marathons and triathlons each year. He said running is therapeutic.

“Running is a time, especially when you run by yourself, that you can leave everything behind, and you can get out on the trail or out on the road and just think,” Merfeld said.

When he runs with another person, Merfeld said the talk is usually chit-chat, and he doesn’t talk about stress or problems when running.

Merfeld will take his iPod when he runs alone, and he said he likes to listen to upbeat music from the ’70s and ’80s, such as Michael Jackson. He prefers performers who record with their instruments and skills rather than artists who use computers for sounds and adjustments.

Merfeld is also restoring an antique 1945 Chevrolet pickup, and he said he’s been restoring it for 30 years.

He bought the truck in his early 20s, and drove it for a few years before deciding to restore it. It currently doesn’t run, but he said his daughter wants it done for her wedding in the summer of 2010.

With all his different roles, Merfeld said he’d have to see if he could finish the restoration before the wedding.