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Dorothy Mernin, 95, of Storm Lake, formerly of Newell, died Sept. 7, 2026, at Methodist Manor Retirement Community in Storm Lake.
Funeral services will take place Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 10:30 a.m. at United Methodist Church in Varina. Burial will be in Varina Cemetery. Visitation will be held Monday, Sept. 21, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake.
Dorothy Marie Gerjets was born Oct. 9, 1930, to Enno and Alma (Schumann) Gerjets in Newell on their family farm. Dorothy attended school in Newell until fifth grade. She then attended school in Sulphur Springs.
On Jan. 23, 1947, Dorothy was united in marriage to John “Jack” Mernin in Sioux City. To this union, four children were born: Linda, Joleen, Joyce and John. Dorothy and Jack were blessed with 73 and a half beautiful years of marriage.
Dorothy was a member of United Methodist Church in Storm Lake and later re-joined the United Methodist Church in Varina. She was an active church member and served on numerous committees over the years. In her free time, Dorothy was a talented seamstress, cake decorator and cook. She was 90 years old before she shared and taught her family how to make her “secret” apple pie recipe. If something tickled her, she would laugh until she cried and her laugh was so contagious that others would also laugh until they cried. You could find her relaxing with a good book, or watching the Chicago Cubs and college sports of all kinds. Dorothy found joy in socializing with her friends at card clubs. She resided at Otsego Place for the past three years and enjoyed all of the activities with her friends (especially Bingo, which she had a habit of winning quite often).
More than anything, Dorothy loved spending time with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She could be counted on to attend their various activities and events, and she always looked forward to family pizza and game night. She sent a daily SnapChat to her family every morning, and always solved Wordle and reported her results to the family Wordle group. Dorothy will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her.
Left to cherish Dorothy’s memory include her children: Linda (Mike) Diehl of Newark, Del.; Joleen Peters of Rembrandt; Joyce (John) Landgraf of Storm Lake; John (Kay) Mernin of Newell; grandchildren: Todd Diehl, Troy (Claire) Diehl, Tia Rupp, Heather Baier, Chad Peters, Nick (Tanya) Landgraf, Lindsay (Tom) Ries, Bailey Landgraf and Trevor Landgraf; 22 great-grandchildren; and extended family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Enno and Alma Gerjets; husband Jack Mernin; son-in-law Larry Peters; grandson Devin Landgraf; and brother Melvin “Bud” Gerjets.
