Virgil Schiffler

Virgil J. Schiffler, age 74, of Melrose, died peacefully on Tuesday, January 1, 2008 at his home in Melrose, Minnesota.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, January 7 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Melrose with Rev. Vincent Lieser officiating and Rev. Robert Rolfes concelebrating. A private interment will be held at a later date.

Friends may call from 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday and from 8 to 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Melrose. Parish prayers will be held at 7:00 p.m. Sunday evening at the funeral home.

Virgil Schiffler was born March 8, 1933 to Wilfred and Anna (Silbernick) Schiffler. On April 11, 1959 he married Stella M. Terres at Seven Dolors Catholic Church in Albany. The couple lived in Albany for eight years while owning and operating the Albany Bowling Center. They then moved to Detroit Lakes where Virgil was the manager at the Holiday gas station. In 1974, they moved to Melrose, owning the Melrose Bowl for the past 33 years. He loved bowling, fishing, and hunting. He enjoyed working crossword and word search puzzles, and loved spending time with his grandchildren, especially taking them out to eat. He was a member and an usher at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Melrose, the American Legion Post 101, and a member of the Catholic Order of Foresters for 50 years.

Survivors include his wife, Stella; children, Craig (Ginny) Schiffler of Melrose, Kelly (Jon) Lentz of Eden Prairie, and Sheri (Anthony) Luetmer of Meire Grove; grandchildren, Justin, Ashley, and Courtney Schiffler, Nik, Mandy, and Alyson Lentz, Zakary and Makiya Luetmer; brothers and sisters, Lucille Kollodge of Collerville, Tennessee, Richard "Bottle" Schiffler of Albany, Erv Schiffler of St. Anthony, Robert Schiffler of Albany, Glenn Schiffler of Plymouth, and Gerianne Klug of Rice.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers and sisters, Rita Baltes, Wilfred "Sonny" Schiffler Jr., Del Schiffler, Shirley Schiffler, and Gary Schiffler.

Serving as casket bearers will be Richard Horn, Dan Hoppe, Jeff Neutzling, Erv Schiffler, Richard "Bottle" Schiffler, Butch Wolf and Shawn Kollodge. Cross bearer will be Justin Schiffler and scripture bearer will be Zakary Luetmer.