GARRISON:  Clara Ellen Berger Merchant, age 76, died Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at the Belle Plaine Nursing and Rehab Center in Belle Plaine following an extended illness.
     Funeral Services will be held at 10 AM, on Saturday, February 9, 2008 at Phillips Family Center, 605 2nd Avenue in Vinton with Rev. Kären Larson officiating.  Interment will be held at the Garrison Cemetery.  Friends may call at the funeral home from 4 to 7 PM, on Friday.  A Memorial Fund has been established.
     Clara was born November 17, 1931 near Garrison to George and Edith (Stevenson) Berger and was raised in Vinton where she received her education.
     For several years Clara was employed as a cook at the Hutton and the E & R Cafes in Vinton.  She was a member of the Big Grove Homemaker Club and enjoyed her friends at Senior Dining.  She also enjoyed bowling, bingo and embroidery.
      She was preceded by her husbands, Lester Williams, Charles Teneyck and Willis Merchant.  Also preceding her in death were her brothers, Freddie, Harvey and Dean and David Berger and her sister, Helen Arnold.
       Clara is survived by her son Steve Williams of Hazelton; her daughter, Peggy Kujaus of Berlin, WI; several grand and great-grandchildren; her brothers, Donald Berger of Kellogg, Dick (Leola) Berger of Garrison, and Tom (Janet) Berger of Newhall and several nieces and nephews.