Wilmer Dale Mette

Roswell, SD

1935, 2758, Ft. Meade/Fechner, D-Army-1,
1937-39, 2746, Alcester, SCS-3, hospital orderly, truck driver

Wilmer Dale Mette, 85, Madison, died December 21, 2003, at Madison Community Hospital.

Mette was born October 26, 1918, in Miner County to Sion Wesley and Emma Dessie (Clausen) Mette. He was raised in the Miner County area, where he attended Argonne School. He then helped with the family farming operation and worked for the CCC for two years. He married Fern Petteys on June 27, 1942, at Baltimore, Md. He entered the U.S. Navy in 1943 and served aboard the USS LST 751 in the SW Pacific Theatre. He achieved the rank of Motor Machinist Mate First Class. He was honorably discharged in December 1945. After the war, the couple returned to Miner County and farmed. They moved to Pipestone, Minn., where he entered the locker plant and meat processing business. In 1953, they moved to Madison, where they owned and operated a locker plant for 21 years. He then worked as a meat inspector for 10 years, retiring in 1984.

He was elected to the Madison City Commission from 1971-80 and was the mayor of Madison from 1980-81. He was a 60-year member of the American Legion, VFW and U.S. LST Association, and also a member of the Elks Club and Madison United Methodist Church, having served on several committees.

Survivors include two sons, Dennis (Cindy) of Las Vegas, Nev., and Dale (Sandy) of Vermillion; three daughters, Debbie (Ron) Lingbeck of Ramona, Donna (Don) Amert of Madison, and Diana (Marc) Johnson of New Orleans, La.; 12 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and three sisters, Alice Burke of Bemidji, Minn., Agnes Newman of Howard, and Ardis Montrose of Canistota.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Fern; and four brothers, Henry, Robert, Richard and Howard.

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