Ben Merck

Ben Merck, 16, West

Fargo, ND, recently diag-

nosed with ALS, passed

away on Tuesday, No-

vember 26, 2019, sur-

rounded by his family at

Sanford Hospital, Fargo,

ND.

Benjamin “Ben” Antho-

ny Merck was born No-

vember 21, 2003 in Fargo,

ND. On January 2, 2004,

he joined the family of

Mark and Linda Merck.

Ben was raised in West

Fargo, baptized at St. John

Lutheran Church in Fargo

and was confirmed on

Sunday, October 27, 2019,

at Lutheran Church of the

Cross in West Fargo. Ben

attended Aurora Elemen-

tary, Liberty Middle

School and was currently

a sophomore at Sheyenne

High School in West Far-

go.

He enjoyed football,

basketball, baseball,

soccer, hockey, music and

especially hanging with

friends. Ben truly enjoyed

traveling and as a part of

Make-A-Wish, flew to

Houston, TX and met his

favorite NBA star, James

Harden, receiving a

signed pair of shoes.

Left to cherish his life

and memory are his

parents: Mark and Linda

Merck of West Fargo;

grandparents: Beatrice

Merck of Minot, ND;

Glenn and Rita Olson of

Devils Lake, ND; aunts

and uncles: Shirley

(Chet) Houmann of

Westhope, ND, Sharon

(Ritch) Cargo of Towner,

ND, Jeff (Cheryl) Merck

of Minot, ND, Deb Cole of

Devils Lake, ND, Todd

(Sheila) Olson of James-

town, ND, Kirk (Billie)

Olson of Mesa, AZ;

numerous cousins; god-

parents: Darrin & Shelly

Hawley of Moorhead, MN

and birth father: Kenney

Robinson of Fargo, ND.

Ben was preceded in

death by his grandfather:

Frank Merck; uncle: Jer-

ry Cole and cousin: Za-

chary Cole.

Visitation Tuesday, De-

cember 3, 2019 from 5 to

7 PM with a prayer ser-

vice at 7 PM, all at Luth-

eran Church of the Cross,

West Fargo. Funeral ser-

vice will be Wednesday,

December 4, 2019 at 10

AM at the church.

In lieu of flowers, the

family requests that a do-

nation be made to

Make-A-Wish North

Dakota or the

Minnesota-North

Dakota-South Dakota

Chapter of the ALS Asso-

ciation.

West Funeral Home &

Life Tribute Center

westfuneralhome.com