Wapella.com Mourns the Passing of Joe Merna

Joseph P. Merna of Merna, Illinois has died at age 81. Mr. Merna has a great many friends and relatives in Wapella, and was an all around pleasant man. Here is the Pantagraph Obit:

Joseph P. Merna, 81, died at 4:30 a.m. Sunday (June 22, 2008) at ManorCare in Normal.

His memorial Mass will be at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Patrick Church of Merna, Bloomington, with the Rev. Gerald T. Ward officiating. Inurnment will be in Holy Cross Cemetery, Merna. Visitation will be from 3:30 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Carmody-Flynn Williamsburg Funeral Home, Bloomington, where the rosary will be recited at 3 p.m.

Joe was born March 22, 1927, in Litchfield, a son of Joseph I. and Margaret A. Flynn Merna. He married Jane A. Hayes on Jan. 17, 1953, in El Paso. She survives.

Also surviving are four daughters, Theresa Merna, Dallas, Texas; Joan (John) Sullivan, Rushville; Patricia (Wade) Pestka, Lexington; and Rita (Michael) McCarthy, Morton; four sons, Michael (Pam) Merna of Merna; Daniel Merna of Merna; Peter (Patricia) Merna, Marshall, Minn.; and James (Teri) Merna, Bloomington; sixteen grandchildren, Katy Merna, Matthew (Karla), Emily, Luke and Mark Sullivan, Grant, Amanda and Connor Pestka, Anne, Kate and Daniel Merna, Margaret, William and Claire McCarthy, and Molly and John Merna; one great-granddaughter, Elaine Sullivan; two sisters, Rosella (Patrick) Kearney, Springfield, and Helen (William) Kearney, Rockford; and one brother, James (Marlys) Merna, West Liberty, Ohio.

He was preceded in death by one sister, Mary Catherine Mellon.

Joe graduated from Trinity High School and farmed at Merna. He was a member of St. Patrick Church of Merna, Bloomington, the Knights of Columbus. He was a Fourth-Degree Knight.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the National Alzheimer's Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave, Floor 17, Chicago, IL 60601 or Clare House.

Knowing Joe Merna was something like knowing (a mythical) Pere Chicago or Juan Los Angeles, yet Joe was certainly for real. He extended the good nature of Irish Row in Wapella some 20 miles north to its physical terminus in Merna, where his family proudly added its name. Our condolences to his wife and family.