Merlin Cecil Null

Merlin Cecil Null, 84, of Sioux City passed away Friday, April 4, 2008, at a Sioux City hospital, with his family at his side.

Services will be 11 a.m. Monday at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel, with Neil Peck, C.L.S. officiating. Visitation will be two hours prior to the service Monday at the funeral home.

Merlin was born July 14, 1923, in Albaton, Iowa, the son of Thomas A. and Elizabeth Pearl (Wells) Null. He graduated from Westfield High School in Westfield, Iowa, and received his teacher's certification at NBT Business College in Sioux City. He then taught at NBT for more than 25 years, where he became the dean of the college. After the college closed, Merlin became a traveling auditor for area banks. He then worked as an office manager at a local car dealership. After retiring, he prepared taxes out of his home until deciding to spend more time with his mother.

When he was 2 years old, Merlin contracted polio. Due to the medical care needed, with the help of the Shriners Hospital, they provided transportation by train to the Minneapolis Shriners Hospital, where he spent a few years receiving the treatment needed. Because he could not walk and used crutches, he would ride his horse, Kid, to the school bus. After school, one of his siblings would go home and get Kid so Merlin could have a ride back home.

He lived his life on crutches but that did not stop him from anything. He enjoyed his travels, fishing and squirrel hunting throughout the years, and the chicken dinners at his sister Pat's home. After each meal, he would always say, "That was the best meal I ever ate." He loved his home in the country, watching the wildlife wander through his yard. There was never a lack of anything to talk about with Merlin because he could always come up with something.

He was a member of the Abu Bekr Shrine, a 32nd Degree Mason and the Moose Lodge in Sioux City.

Survivors include his two brothers, Aaron of Sioux City, and Virgil of Centerville, S.D.; four sisters, Vivian (Hoyt) McCormick of Chadbourn, N.C., Bonnie Monfort of Lena, Wis., Nellie Prowse and Stanley Goodell of Bainbridge Island, Wash., and Pat (Clyde) Hoffman of North Sioux City; 12 nephews; 20 nieces; and many, many grandnephews and grandnieces and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters and their husbands, Dorothy and Earl Smith of Buckley, Wash., and Ethel and Tom Martin of Auburn, Wash.; a brother and his wife, Earl and Bobbi Null of Odessa, Wash.; a brother-in-law, Henry Monfort of Lena, Wis.; a sister-in-law, Jackie Null of Centerville, S.D.; two nieces, Deanna Monfort of Lena and Janet Hoffman of North Sioux City; and three nephews, Roger Durr of Auburn, Curt Hoffman of North Sioux City and Clint Null of Centerville.

Honorary pallbearers will be his nephews, Terry Hoffman, Victor Hoffman, Corey Hoffman, Dan Honomichl, Justin Wagner, Derek Hoffman and David Wagner.

Merlin was very appreciative of the Shriners for everything they did for him. A special thanks to Harold and Dorothy, Brian, Becky and family; Arlin and Glenda, Hester and John, Jim, Scott and Kati for all their help and "good food" that allowed him to live in his beloved home.