Merecie Domagala

MERECIE JO DOMAGALA was born to Timothy and Rita (Rees) Sterrett on September 12, 1963, at the Huron Hospital in Huron, South Dakota. In 1965, she moved with her family to Luverne, Minnesota. Merecie made many lifetime friends during her high school years through her involvement in school activities, sports and music. While participating on the swim team, she fell in love with a diver, Larry Domagala, and on April 11, 1981, the couple was married at the First Baptist Church in Luverne. In 1982, Merecie graduated from Luverne High School. She and Larry were blessed with three children: Nicholas, Nathan and Natalie. In addition to raising the children, Merecie worked various jobs in her younger years. She began as a lifeguard, swimming instructor and assistant manager duties at the Rock County Community Pool and then worked in the medical records department at the Sioux Valley Luverne Medical Center. In 2005, Merecie became the local agent of the American Family Insurance Agency in Luverne. In September of 2000, Merecie was diagnosed with Ocular Melanoma. She began treatment with the Rochester-Mayo Health System. Her journey with this rare form of cancer was instrumental in its research and development for a possible cure for others someday. After a number of years in remission, in April 2012, Merecie’s cancer metastasized to other areas of her body. Following a courageous battle, on Friday, January 27, 2017, Merecie died peacefully with family by her side at the Sanford Luverne Hospice Cottage at the age of 53 years, four months and 15 days.

Merecie lived with a commitment to her Christian faith and was recently attending Living Rock Church where she participated in weekly Bible study. She served on the Luverne Hockey Association Board for many years, helping primarily with fundraising. During all of her years as a hockey mom, Merecie rarely missed a game. In 2015, Merecie was selected as Honorary Spokesperson at Rock County Relay for Life and in 2016, she coordinated the event. She had fun in founding a coloring club and enjoyed gardening. She was a wonderful wife, mother of three and grandmother of six. Throughout her life, family was very important. Traits she was well known for were her organizational skills, detailed note taking and her beautiful penmanship. She will forever be remembered for always putting others before herself. Merecie made “Thoughtful Thursday’s” a part of her life and hopefully showed others how a small gesture given with love, can have a meaningful impact in this world.

Those that will always love her to the moon and back are her husband, Larry; three children and six grandchildren: Nicholas (Amy) of Luverne, and their children, Elliot, Maddux, Mallachi and Willow; Nathan (Alyssa) of Annandale, Minnesota, and their children, Archer and Berkley; and Natalie (Rachel Hatch) of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; mother, Rita Sterrett of Luverne; siblings, Mary Beth (Craig) Eiter of Prior Lake, Minnesota, Thomas (Melissa) Sterrett of Luverne, Tanner Sterrett and Blake Sterrett, both of Georgia; many nieces, nephews, and a large community of friends. She was preceded in death by her father, Timothy Sterrett.

Memorials may be directed to Sanford Luverne Hospice or the Luverne Hockey Association.