Owen G. Merkle, 69, died Saturday, 24 April, 1999, while traveling in Munich, Germany.

Dr. Merkle was born 22 November, 1929, in Meade County, KS. He earned a B.S. in Agronomy in 1951 and a M.S. in Plant Breeding in 1954, both degrees from Oklahoma State University. Owen joined the U.S. Army in 1954 and received an honorable discharge in 1956. In 1957, Owen and family moved to College Station, TX, where he worked as an agronomist with the USDAARS and worked on his Ph.D. degree. He received the Ph.D. degree from Texas A&M University in 1963 with a major in plant breeding and a minor in plant pathology. Owen continued with ARS at College Station until 1974 when he transferred to Stillwater, OK, There, he worked as an ARS Research Agronomist until he retired in 1988.

Owen's work encompassed many facets of practical research ranging from interactions of environment with fertilization and plant spacing to the inheritance of wheat flour quality and resistance to pests and drought. Improvement and development of small grain germ plasm and cultivars were among Dr. Merkle's most important contributions to agriculture. As agronomist-breeder on research teams in Texas and Oklahoma, he made significant contributions to the development of flax cultivars Caldwell, Dillman, and Mac; and wheat cultivars Caddo, Milam, Sturdy, Fox, Mit, and Century. He and his coworkers released and registered more than 15 wheat germ plasm lines with resistance to disease (rust) or insects (Hessian fly and the yellow sugarcane aphid) and with improved characters (large seed); and pearl millet germ plasm lines with resistance to chinch bug.

Prior to retirement, Dr. Merkle was active in evaluating barley, wheat, and wild Triticum species for resistance to the Russian wheat aphid and in transferring resistance to the RWA, greenbug, and rust from wild Triticum to wheat. He also evaluated winter and spring wheat genotypes for tolerance to drought in coöperative programs with colleagues at Lubbock, TX, and El Batan, Mexico.

After retiring, Owen accepted a position with USAID and served from January, 1989, to July, 1993, as Cereal Agronomist in the Cereal Technology Transfer Program in Settat, Morocco, with the Mid-American International Agricultural Consortium. Owen returned to Stillwater after finishing his assignment in Morocco.

Owen enjoyed fly-fishing, tying flies, gardening, and spending time with his family and grandchildren. His wife of 44 years, the former Norma Jeannne Hobler, and one son, Michael George Merkle, predeceased Dr. Merkle. Survivors include three sons, Gregory Owen Merkle, Douglas Paul Merkle, Daniel Bruce Merkle; one daughter, Donna Kay McIntosh; and one brother, Farran Dean Merkle.

Funeral services were held at Salem Lutheran Church, with interment at Salem Lutheran Cemetery, in Stillwater, OK.