Daily Nonpareil Council Bluffs IA Nov 3rd 2004 Dessa Bernadine Merdinger, 92, died Nov. 3 at Indian Hills Nursing Home. Dessa Bernadine Merdinger was born in Harrison County, Magnolia Township, on Dec. 26, 1911. She was the daughter of John and Jessie (Snyder) Lennert and was one of five children. She attended country school in the Magnolia area. She was baptized in 1920 into the Methodist Episcopal Church in Magnolia, confirmed into the Underwood Lutheran Church in 1947 and belonged to the Priscilla Circle. Bernadine was united in marriage to George "Jake" Merdinger on June 16, 1943, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he was stationed during his service in the Army in World War II. Dad always said he had to wait for her to put shoes on and come out of the hills before he found her. They were the parents of two sons: James and Gene. They lived and farmed near Beebeetown, Neola and Underwood, and eventually moved to the town of Underwood in the early 1960s. "Jake" passed away on Feb. 20, 1983. Bernadine worked as a mother's helper in the Magnolia area, at the Brewer Cafe (where she met Jake) in Underwood, Michigan Bomber Plant, Martin Grocery Store and Underwood Schools. She entered Indian Hills Nursing Home in December 1996. Her parents, her husband "Jake," two sisters, one brother and one great-grandchild preceded her in death. She leaves to mourn her passing sons, James and his wife, Marlene, Gene and his wife, Linda, all of Underwood; two sisters, Inez Radloff of Lincoln, Neb., and Margorie Smith of Ypsilanti, Mich.; four granddaughters, Theresa Thompson and her husband, David, Cami Ettleman and her husband, Jim, Kelli Tompkins and her husband, Rob, and Kari Merdinger and her fiance "Bo"; seven great-grandchildren; nieces, nephews, other relatives and many fiends. The family would like memorials made to the Underwood Lutheran Church Building Fund. Visitation with family will be Thursday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Cutler-O'Neill-Meyer-Woodring Funeral Home with Dr. Eberhard Hering, pastor of Underwood Lutheran Church, officiating. Burial will be in Underwood Cemetery.