NAME: Van Auken, Merle Lee "Bud" (m. Dorothy Sill)

OBIT:

Merle "Bud" VanAuken
 Services will be held 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Stacy-Lewis Funeral Home in Columbus Junction, for Merle "Bud" VanAuken, 65, 2117 Wallace St. Visitation will be Tuesday from 2-8 p.m. at the funeral home and burial will be in the Columbus City Cemetery. Services will be under the direction of Rev. Thomas Woodin.
 He died Sunday morning after a lengthy illness.
 Born May 12, 1924, the son of James and Edna Hammond VanAuken at Columbus Junction, he had been a lifetime resident of the area and had been employed as a custodian in the Muscatine Community School District prior to his retirement in 1984.
 His marriage to Dorothy Sill took place in Hahoka, Mo., on May 14, 1942. He was also a member of the VFW, having been a veteran of WW II.
 Survivors include his wife, two daughters, Mrs. Jack (Sandra) Knerr, Brighton, Mo. and Sharon VanAuken of Kissimmee, Fla.; and five sisters, Mrs. Ruth Thompson, Columbus Junction, Mrs. Everett (Dorothy) Thompson, Muscatine; Mrs. Gene (Evelyn) Duncan, Fredonia, Mrs. Richard (Cleo) Fuller, Columbus Junction and Mrs. Shirley Wade, Muscatine.
 Mr. Van Auken was preceded in death by four brothers and one sister.