Merwin was called to his heavenly home on Sunday, September 1st. He was born in Cumberland, WI. on 12/15/1936. He was the first born of parents Clarence and Myrtle Moen. His siblings were Clarence (Buzz), Clariece (Linnell) and Richard Moen.

He attended grade schools in Comstock, Lincoln and Sprague. He graduated from Cumberland High School in 1954.

He met the love of his life Mary Louise Danniger. They had their first date June 10th, 1954, where they went to the Barron Butter Fest. They were engaged in 1956 and married at Christ Luther Church-Pipe Lake on July 27th, 1957. They spent 50 wonderful years together. There was no Punky without Mary and no Mary without Punky. They were truly two people who were meant to be together. They spent their lives devoted to each other and God; Traveling, spending summers at the lake, gardening up a storm, hosting church potlucks and the biggest Christmas parties. They had two children James and Suzy and two grandchildren, Ashley and Taylor whom they adored and spoiled.

Merwin went on to attend and graduate from UW River Falls with a BA in 1958. He went on to graduate at UW LaCrosse with a Master’s degree in Health and Education.

Merwin’s first 9 years of teaching was at Boyceville from 1959-1969. He also coached football, wrestling and baseball. All the teams in all sports that Merwin coached, won 75% of their games with multiple conference championships. The 1961 team was undefeated and ranked 2nd in the state. After many wonderful years of teaching at Boyceville he accepted the HS Principal job at St. Croix Falls in August of 1968.

His first assignment at St. Croix was to hire 17 new teachers and schedule the 9-12 student body. In August of the first year the school board offered Merwin the Superintendency. During that time, he was asked to finish a new master’s degree in administration. He took classes at night during the school year and the summer. He received his master’s degree in administration with 30 credits short of The Specialist/Doctors degree. The workload was challenging, and the student body survived.

Merwin and Mary moved to their lake home on Pipe Lake in 1980 and during that time he served as Superintendent of Cumberland, his old alma matter, until he retired in 1994.

He truly loved education. School Administration is not an easy career. He was often admired for his ability to remain calm (at least outwardly) in stressful situations when many others would lose their composure. But the most important thing for him was being around the students. He genuinely cared for his students, and it showed in his daily interactions, which extended far beyond the end of the school day. Many of the students became life-long friends.

Merwin had many hobbies including: guns, reading, splitting wood, woodworking, gardening, hunting, fishing, snowplowing and watching the Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers. He also loved his big John Deer tractor. You could often find him clearing land or digging up something. You could always find, but mostly hear, Merwin out in the woods cutting down trees to heat their home during the winter; while Mary was in the house cooking up a feast and getting impatient because dinner was on the table. But there was always one more tree to cut. He would not have had to cut so many trees down if he kept his home at a normal temperature! We spent many Christmases wishing we wore shorts and t-shirts instead of sweaters. Who knew you could sweat as if you just ran a marathon while you were opening gifts?

Merwin had a gift to talk. He was involved in many organizations that gave him that outlet. Ducks Unlimited, Lions Club, Kiwanis, to name a few. There were many times where the family would go out to eat and be seated at a table but have to wait about an hour and a half for him to talk to everyone before finally sitting down. And an especially good “Merwin Talking” story was when he was inducted into his high school hall of fame, and his speech lasted almost 3 hours!

His knowledge and ability to speak in depth on a variety of subjects is unmatched. If someone was talking to him about something he didn’t have knowledge about he would dig in and research until he was versed in the subject. On a drive one day I [Sue] told him I was going to sell everything and buy an Alpaca Farm. The next weekend I saw him he was telling me that I should not invest in Alpaca’s at this time with a list of researched reasons. --- I was joking Dad!

Punky liked to have fun. Merwin and Mary always hosted the Christmas family get together with brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. When the family expanded, he had to build on an addition to the house which became known as the “Christmas room”.

He also liked to host parties with all the lake friends. Sometimes coming up to the lake the pontoon would be gone, and you would hear a bunch of giggling out on the lake. All the parents would tie up the pontoon boat and enjoy the Mai Tai’s or Old Fashions that Joe LaMirande would make. A tradition passed down to the children.

And of course there was always hunting season. He loved to host parties with the hunting buddies too. Everyone would arrive at the lake and prepare for a day of hunting. My uncle Paul had a story where Punky bought a new gun with a scope he was going to site in. He was leaning on his truck and the target was on the barn. Punky kept shooting and Paul kept telling him he was missing the target. The problem was he kept lowering the site on his scope and he finally lowered it too much and shot a hole right through the hood of his truck. Even with that incident, Merwin could tell you he shot 186 deer and kept record of every one of them. On The last day of hunting the hunting crew would set up their processing stations in the pole barn. Cut up meat, tell stories and maybe have a few beers.

Friends and community meant the world to Merwin. He made incredible life-long friends from grade school, to college, his teaching days and during the last three years at the Osceola Christian Community Home. As residents entered, he wanted to know all about them. He also was very interested in the lives on the care workers who became like family to him. His friends were always an integral part of his life. He shared many memories over the years that always turned into great stories around the dinner table. As a family, we couldn’t be more thankful for the gift of his friendships he has had at every stage of his life and career.

Faith was important to Merwin. He was baptized in Bethany Lutheran and confirmed at a 1st Lutheran Church Cumberland. His faith was what has kept him going his entire life and been the cornerstone for the way he carried himself. Both Merwin and Mary put their trust in our and savior. Punky and Mary were avid members of the Pipe Lake church here. There were a few years there where Merwin was even the interim pastor, giving a sermon from time to time.

Funeral services will be held at 11 AM Friday, September 6, 2024, at Christ Lutheran Church, Pipe Lake, WI with Rev. Steve Miller officiating. Burial will be in Christ Lutheran Cemetery at a later date. Visitation will be from 10-11 AM.

Skinner Funeral Home of Turtle Lake is serving the family.

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024 1:54 pm CDT