Noel Metzer, 91

Noel Rolland Metzer, 91, of Mountain Home, died Monday, April 10, 2006, at a local hospital.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., on Thursday, April 20, at the Christian and Baptist Church, 265 N. 4th East St., in Mountain Home. A lunch will follow at the American Legion Hall. Arrangements are under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel in Mountain Home.

Noel was born May 30, 1914, to Conrad and Cora Metzer in Remer, Minn. He was the twelfth of 14 children and is survived by one sister, Dora Durst of Hillsborough, N.J. and one brother, Dell Metzer of Bemidji, Minn.

He married Arlene Cofield on June 30, 1939. They made their home in Garrison, Minn., where they reared four sons and one daughter. Later they moved to Michigan, where he worked as an auto mechanic.

He retired in 1976 and moved to St. Maries, Idaho, where he joined his brother, Walt, and picked up his fiddle after 40 years and started playing at the St. Marie's Senior Center. He then joined the Idaho State Old Time Fiddler's. He was a six-time Idaho State Champion, two-time National Champion, and a member of the National Old Time Fiddlers Hall of Fame.

He learned to play the fiddle by listening to his mother hum the songs when he was five years old. He played by ear. He could listen to a song and then play it.

Noel was drafted into the U.S. Army, March 2, 1944, as a mechanic, and was shipped to Europe on Sept. 10, 1944, landing with a vehicle fleet on Omaha Beach. He was discharged, March 15, 1946.

Noel was a member of American Legion Post #26, V336 40/8, the Mountain Home Senior Center and the Christian and Baptist Church.

He is survived by: sons Jim and his wife, Carmen, of Mountain Home, Ronald and his friend, Diane, of Milwaukee, Wisc., Douglas and his wife, Evie, of Plainwell, Mich., and Richard of Brainerd, Minn.; eight grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by a daughter, Janet, three brothers and six sisters.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Christian and Baptist Church, 265 N. 4th East St., Mountain Home, ID 83647, or the Mountain Home Senior Center, 1000 N. 3rd East St., Mountain Home, ID 83647.