DARREL DWAYNE MERCER
Darrel Dwayne Mercer, son of Clarence and Lela (Johnson) Mercer, was born July 13, 1938 in rural Gentry County, MO. Darrel graduated from Diagonal High School with the class of 1956.
Darrel served his country in the U.S. Air Force and spent time in England and Morocco. After his honorable discharge, Darrel returned to southern Iowa.
On November 10, 1957, Darrel was united in marriage to Mary Ann Oshel in the First Christian Church in Diagonal. To this marriage, three children were born: Robert, Patricia and Diane. Mary Ann passed away in 1966.
In September, 1974, Darrel married Louisa Lucille Clark. Lucille brought into Darrel’s life six more kids: Bob, Jerry, Donnie, Steve, Betty and Juanita. Darrel and Lucille moved to Shell Knob, MO in 1978. In April of 2007, they moved to Blockton, IA.
Darrel earned a living farming, working as a janitor at a couple of schools and was employed by the Tyson Chicken Plant.
Darrel enjoyed raising chickens, pheasants, rabbits and he received lots of trophies. Darrel also enjoyed collecting all kinds of hand tools and ‘scraping.’ Most of all, Darrel loved his family and spending time with his grandchildren and great grandchildren. Special times were spent at Table Rock Lake in Missouri, sitting on the deck at Sherri and Larry Armstrong’s home and going out on the pontoon. Lucille passed away on January 12, 2008. Darrel became a resident of Mount Ayr Health Care Center in March of 2019. He enjoyed sitting out front and watching the traffic on Highway 2.
Darrel passed away on November 28, 2021. He was preceded in death by his parents; both wives; stepchildren; Donnie, Jerry, Betty; stepdaughter-in-law, Pat Clark; brother, Donald Mercer; brother-in-law, Glenn Payton; sister-in-law, Christa Oshel.
Survivors include his children; Robert (Louisa) Mercer of Diagonal, IA, Patty (Mike) Rowe of Sheridan, MO, Diane (Ron) Stephenson of Eldon, IA; 22 grandchildren and many great grandchildren and great great grandchildren; stepchildren; Juanita (Junior) Adams of Mount Ayr, IA, Bob Clark of Sunrise Beach, MO, Steve (Barb) Clark of Redding, IA; stepdaughter-in-law, Nancy Clark of Creston, IA; brother, Ernie (Judy) Mercer of Kellerton, IA; sisters, Donna Payton of Lamoni, IA and Dola (Raymond) Doser of Lovilia, IA; brother-in-law, Larry Oshel of Diagonal, IA; sisters-in-law, Janet Mercer of Mount Ayr, IA and Sherri (Larry) Armstrong of St Petersburg, FL; many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Open visitation will be held at Armstrong Funeral Home in Mount Ayr on Thursday, December 2 from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with the family present Friday morning from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Funeral services begin at 11:00 a.m. on Friday. Burial will follow in the Diagonal Cemetery with military honors provided by the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard and Ringgold County American Legions. Memorials are for a bench at the Mount Ayr Health Care Center.
