Francis J. Meirose, 80, Sturgis, died Sunday, January 24, 2010, at Sturgis Regional Senior Care.

Visitation will be noon until 5:00 p.m. on Thursday at the Kinkade Funeral Chapel in Sturgis. A Christian wake service will be held at 7:00 p.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.

Mass of Christian burial will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, January 29, 2010, at the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Sturgis with Father Arnold Kari and Father Bryan Sorensen officiating. Burial with military honors provided by the Sturgis Veterans Honor Guard will follows at the Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis.

Francis was born July 20, 1929, on a farm near Wall, SD, to William and Nora (Suing) Meirose. He graduated from Wall High School in 1948. He enlisted in the US Army in October of 1951. He served as a Sergeant in the Korean War and was honorably discharged in September of 1953.

He married Alvina Rothluebber at Fordyce, NE, on February 1, 1954, and they began their life together in Sturgis, SD. Francis was a lifetime member of the VFW, and past president of Hills and Plains Gun Club. He worked at Ft. Meade; first as an aide, and then in the plumbing shop for over thirty years, retiring in 1984.

Survivors include his wife, Alvina Meirose, Sturgis; six children, William Meirose and his wife, Valerie, Sturgis, Cecelia and her husband, Dick Green, Rapid City, John Meirose and his wife, Julie, Woodstock, VA, Joyce Anne and her husband, David Beuning, Holly Springs, NC, Joseph Meirose and his wife, Sharon, BelAir, MD, and Kenneth Meirose and his wife, Jill, Sturgis. Francis was blessed with 11 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sisters, Inez (Robert) Greear, Sturgis, and Mary Ann Trople, Rapid City; and one brother, Galen Meirose (Kay Hunn), Ft. Collins, CO.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Jerome Meirose; and sister, Geneva Urban.

A memorial has been established to the Sturgis Public Library.