Posted on: Jefferson County Obituaries Reply Here: http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/gc/USA/Mo/JeffersonObits/230 Surname: ------------------------- (Jefferson Republic, Thursday, July 27, 1961) Ernest Ralph Merifield, 65, Hillsboro Route One, died July 24 in Wabash Hospital, DeCatur, Ill., following a long illness. Funeral services will be tomorrow, (Friday) at 11 a.m. in a chapel of Sparks Funeral Home in Bonne Terre. The Rev. Roy Foster of Centenary Methodist Church, Bonne Terre, will officiate. Burial will be in National Cemetery, Jefferson Barracks. Mr. Merifield was born Aug. 10, 1895, in St. Louis, the son of Ernest N. and Antonnette Schneider Merifield. On Aug. 27, 1941, he was married to the former Katherine Ahrens, who survives. He also leaves three children, Marlene, at home, Wayne of Phoenix, Ariz., and Don Grace of Bonne Terre; also two sisters, Mrs. Emil (lillian) Hoelscher and Mrs. Geo. (Helen) Smith, both of St. Louis; and five grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, Gordon, and a brother. Mr. Merifield, a World War I veteran, was a retired employee of the Wabash Railroad. He was a member of First Methodist Church, De Soto; Samaritan Lodge No. 424 A.F.& A.M., Bonne Terre; Order of Eastern Star 198, Fairburg, Ill.; American Legion Post, Forest Ill.; Odd Fellow Lodge, Homer Ill.; Ashler Club, Decatur, Ill.; Valle Rebekah Lodge 58, De Soto; member of the Order of Railroad Telegraphers; honorary life member of Civil Defense.