Gerald "Jerry" Koopmeiners

Gerald Jerome Koopmeiners, age 82 of Melrose, passed away on September 22, 2025 at 10 pm with family by his side at Cura Nursing Home in Melrose. He is finally at peace after living with dementia for quite a few years.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 11 a.m. Monday, September 29 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Melrose with Rev. Mitchell Bechtold officiating. Interment will be in Oak Hill Cemetery with military honors by the Melrose Veterans Honor Guard. For those who are active or former military, Jerry would appreciate if you wear your respective uniform to the Mass.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Melrose and from 10 to 10:45 a.m. Monday at the church. Parish prayers will be held at 4 p.m. followed by the Melrose Veterans Honor Guard at 6:45 p.m. Sunday evening at the funeral home.

Gerald Jerome Koopmeiners was born March 4, 1943, in St. Francis, MN to Herman and Florence (Pohlmann) Koopmeiners, the eighth of eleven children. He started his first job in fifth grade, setting pins at the bowling alley, along with his brother Jim. He also worked on the farms of his sisters, Irene and Margie. During high school he worked at Al’s Red Owl.

He graduated from Melrose High School in 1961 and joined the Marines in July of that year with basic training at Camp Pendleton. He was enormously proud to be a Marine! He was honorably discharged in 1964.

Gerald married Marjorie Ann Brang on October 16, 1965, at St. John’s Church in Meire Grove. They lived in Brooklyn Park for several years while he worked for Buckingham Freight Lines, loading trucks. In 1969 after moving back to the Melrose area, he held a variety of jobs over the years to support his family and make ends meet. He worked for Select Sires breeding cows, as a custodian at St. Mary’s Catholic School, delivering gas and fuel oil for Loxtercamp Oil, which earned him the nickname “OPEC”, as a truck driver for Jennie-O Foods while he subbed for the post office in Sauk Centre, and finally, as a full-time Rural Letter Carrier at the Sauk Centre Post Office for the final 20 years of his working life. He enjoyed being a Rural Letter Carrier and would have continued hauling mail if he could have worked only from April to November. He retired at the age of 70 in 2013.

Gerald volunteered in the community throughout his lifetime. He was a 20-year member of the Melrose Fire Department. As a member of St. Mary’s Parish, he served on the parish council and as an usher at mass. He served on the Melrose Hospital Board. He was a lifetime member of the Melrose VFW Post 7050 where he served as commander. He was also a Union Steward for the National Rural Letter Carrier Association. After retirement, he volunteered at the Melrose Food Shelf and at the St. Cloud VA, escorting Veterans to their appointments.

Gerald was blessed with the gift of conversation and could talk to nearly anyone, joking around, and laughing at his own jokes. He loved attending the activities of his grandchildren, whether a band concert or a sporting event. He enjoyed playing cards, cribbage, gin rummy, and was often quite lucky when he played pull tabs. Deer hunting, reading, especially the newspapers, and going for walks with the dog in the woods along the river were other activities he enjoyed.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Marjorie of Melrose; children, Janelle (Michael) Thell of St. Joseph, Michelle (Mark) Ettel of Melrose, Paul (Mary) of Clearwater, and Joel (Kirsten) of St. Augusta; grandchildren, Nicholas, Benjamin, and Elizabeth Thell, Zachary and Ethan Ettel, and Tyler Koopmeiners; step-grandchildren, Patrick (Aly) Geertsema and Rachel Geertsema; step-great-grandchildren, Max and Broc Geertsema; sister, Carol (Allen”Butch”) Klaphake; brothers and sisters-in-law, Robert (Carol) Brang, Corrine Blenker, and David (Ann) Brang; and many other extended family members.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers and sisters and their spouses, Irene (Lawrence) Pohlmann, Elmer, Mary Jane (Albert/Sonny) Austing, Bert (Verlia), Margaret (Gerald) Roering, Florentine (Marcellus/Sal) Roering, James (Cathy), JoAnn (Albin) Zenzen, and Joyce; mother and father-in-law, Alphonse and Alvina Brang; brother-in-law, Ralph Blenker; and many other relatives and friends.

In lieu of flowers/plants, the family requests donations be made to CentraCare Hospice.