Obituaries : Reverend Dan L. Merchant

Reverend Dan L. Merchant passed away peacefully on the afternoon of January 10, 2024, after a long battle with Parkinson's.
A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, January 15, 2023, at Memorial Services of Iowa (4208 N. Ankeny Blvd) with visitation beginning at 10:00 a.m. A graveside service will take place at 3:00 p.m. at Garrison Cemetery in Garrison, Iowa. The service will be live-streamed at https://vimeo.com/event/4013468
Dan was born on December 7, 1949, the youngest of four boys, to Clyde and Shirley Merchant of Garrison, IA. He grew up on the family farm and graduated from Garrison High School in 1968. On June 7, 1969, he married his high school sweetheart and lifelong love, Judy Ann Fleming, daughter of James and Donna Fleming of Dysart, IA. They shared 48 years together before her passing in 2017, living and loving greatly here on earth, and united again in the presence of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Dan served in the US Army from February 1972 to July 1977 as an Army Bandsman, rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant. He often remarked that "he protected our country with his Tuba", but that obscured that he was a Vietnam Era volunteer enlistee and served behind the Iron Curtain in the Berlin Brigade during the US Occupation of West Berlin in East Germany.
Dan was a lifelong student and musician-a path that began as a National Honor Society member in high school. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), Cedar Falls, IA in 1972. After his military service, Dan completed a Master of Science in Industrial Supervision and Management from UNI in 1983. After leaving the business sector to pursue a calling in full time Christian Ministry, he completed a Master of Divinity through Luther Rice Seminary, Lithonia, GA in 2008.
Family and friends will most remember Reverend Merchant as a man with a passion to serve God in every facet of his life and an abiding love for his family and friends. Prior to his ordination and serving as the Pastor of Cedar Street Baptist Church in Tipton, IA, Dan was a faithful member and laymen. He served through the years as a Sunday School teacher, Music Director, Deacon, and the Assistant Pastor of two different Spanish Speaking Churches. His love for his family began with his wife and extended to his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and countless others who he counted and treated as his family. His grandfather name, "Poppy", captures the breadth of his loving reach-started by his first grandchild, Cerena, it became a title used by any child who spent any amount of time around him.
Rev. Merchant was preceded in death by his wife Judy, granddaughter Ellie Mae Wrobel, and his parents Clyde and Shirley Merchant. He is survived by his daughter Amy Jo Wrobel, her husband David and their daughters Kylie Mullen (Grant) and Lillie Andrus (John); son Lieutenant Colonel Jason Merchant, his wife Michelle and their children Dr. Cerena Stinogel, D.O. (Brett & Judah), Isaac Merchant (Courtney L. & Cheyenne, Camden, Zach), Staff Sergeant Jacob Merchant (Cassidy & Samuel, Gabriella); son Chaplain (Captain) Courtney J. Merchant (Michelle "Shelly" & Matthew, Allison). He is also survived by his brothers Michael (Jan) of Las Cruces, NM, Patrick (Helen) of Bedford, IN, and Kim (Leah) of Casper, Wyoming.