Final Salute

Melvin Manuel (Mel) Miers passed away on Monday, May 5th at Ascension St. John Jane Phillips Medical Center in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Funeral services will be held Saturday, May 17, 2025 at Cummings Family Funeral Home in Bedford, at 10:30 AM. Visitation will be held at the funeral home Friday, May 16, 2025 from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM with family greeting friends from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Family burial will be at a later date at Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Adel, Iowa.

Mel was born in Clarinda, Iowa to Lawrence Pershing and Mary Faye (Glass) Miers. He was the 3rd of 5 children, with 2 older brothers: Raymond(Jerry), William(Bill) and 2 younger sisters: Nora, Cindy. He spent the majority of his childhood in Gravity, Iowa; riding bikes, hunting, trapping, fishing, and playing with the Gravity boys. He attended grade school in Gravity and proudly graduated with the class of 1966 from BCHS. After graduation he attended Universal Trade School in Omaha, where he studied to be a mechanic.

In June of 1968 he joined the Navy. He actually received his draft notice the day he left for boot camp. The Navy decided because of his skill in mechanics that he should be in the Seabees, the Naval Construction part of the Navy. That was a decision that affected his entire life. He served in MCB-5 in Port Hueneme, California, deploying to Vietnam in 1969 and again in 1970. He actually was chosen as “Seabee of the Month” for the entire battalion in July of 1970, an honor that he was proud of, but never spoke of. He developed a deep love for his country and his fellow “Bees” that continued until his death. In 2012 he and Linda were honored to start a reunion of MCB-5 that meets every fall in Branson.

On Oct 5, 1969, between his 2 deployments to Vietnam, he married Linda Meredith of Bedford, Iowa. To this union 3 children were born: Amy Michelle in 1973, Aaron Micheal in 1977, and Angela Marie (Angie) in 1978. Mel knew he had another daughter and looked for her for many years. In 2023, through the miracle of today’s technology, he was blessed and thrilled to find his oldest daughter, Karen. He loved all of his children with all his heart and was so proud of each of them and of his grandchildren when they came along.

Mel had a tremendous work ethic that he learned from an early age, starting with delivering newspapers in Gravity and traveling to Alaska to salmon fish 2 summers while he was in high school. Upon his return from the service, he worked/ran service stations in Omaha. In 1977 he and Linda purchased a small service station in New Market and moved his family back to SW Iowa. In 1979 he started at NSK Bearing Co in Clarinda and worked there for 25 years. Most of those years at NSK he was working overtime and/or a second job. Upon retirement from NSK he started his own handyman/carpenter business with a friend. Eventually he and Linda wanted to be closer to the grandkids and moved to the Des Moines area where he worked as a maintenance man in a couple of apartment complexes. In 2008 he retired, due to health issues. In 2013 upon Linda’s retirement, they started traveling to Texas for the winters. A couple years later they sold their home and became full-time RVers, spending summers in Iowa, and winters in Rockport Texas with stays in Branson each year.

Mel was a passionate man who loved hunting, fishing, golfing, and collecting things. He collected toy cars, toy tractors, coins, knives, logo golf balls, and TOOLS. His friends laughingly said that every Harbor Freight between Des Moines and Rockport Texas knew him by name when he walked in the door. He loved his Nebraska Cornhusker football team and supported them regardless of the score. Over the last few years, he had developed a love for the KC Chiefs. But his greatest passion was his family, his military brothers from MCB-5, his country, and his God.

Left to cherish his memory are his wife of over 55 years, Linda; daughters Amy Karg (David) of Altoona, Angie Eisele (Chad) of Norwalk, Karen Noll (Mike) of Fargo, ND; son Aaron (Barb) of New Market; grandchildren Kaylee Karg (fiance’ Trent) of Ankeny, Konnor Karg of Altoona, Brycen and Brenna Eisele of Norwalk; step-grandchildren Kaylee, Evan, and Gia Clark of Altoona; sisters Nora Poppelwell (Mike) of Albany, MO, and Cindy Thomson (Rich) of Red Oak; sisters-in-law Arieta Miers of Creston, Joan Miers of LaVista, NE, Claudia Hebing(Todd) of Galena, MO, Sandy Meredith of Bedford, brother-in-law Stephen Meredith of Omaha, NE; and many cousins, nieces, nephews, dear friends, and “bonus kids” he and Linda welcomed as family. He is preceded in death by his parents, Lawrence & Mary Miers, in laws Howard & Clarice Meredith, brothers Jerry & Bill Miers, and brother in law Dick Meredith.

The family extends heartfelt thanks for all the support, love, and prayers in recent months and is especially grateful to the hospital staff in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, for their compassionate care. Memorials may be directed towards the family to be established in Mel’s name.