Rev. Willis Miesner

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The Rev. Willis E. Miesner, 74, of Perryville died Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2006, at Perry Oaks Manor.

He was born May 21, 1931, at Brazeau, Mo., son of Otto J. and Ella M. Koenig Miesner.

Miesner was a 1949 graduate of Perryville High School, and a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau and Concordia Theological Seminary in Springfield, Ill.

He taught high school in Lesterville, Mo., and was a clergy intern at St. John Lutheran Church in Elyria, Ohio. He was pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Slater, Mo., from July 1968 to May 1976. He then served Lutheran ministries in Adair, and Bouton, Iowa, and Perry County, Mo., until retiring in 1993.

Miesner served six years as Lutheran Laymen's League circuit adviser. He moved to Perryville and was an active member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, making shut-in calls, participating in Berean Bible Class and Fellowship Club until curtailed by his mobility.

He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.

Survivors include four brothers, Elmer Miesner of St. Louis, Gilbert Miesner of Frohna, Mo., Dr. Donald Miesner of Ballwin, Mo., Dr. Edgar Miesner of Perryville; four sisters, Lilly Ochs and Arlene Lohmann of Perryville, Vera Ruesler and Ruth Ann Shannon of Bridgeton, Mo.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother.

Friends may call at Young and Sons Funeral Home from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, and Saturday from 6:30 to 9 a.m.

The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Immanuel Lutheran Church, with the Rev. Christopher Cole officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery, with military graveside service by American Legion Post 133.