Jerald A. "Barney" Meschke, 86, of Owatonna, died Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at Owatonna Hospital. He was born October 3, 1922 in Racine, Minnesota the son of Alfred and Bernice (Campfield) Meschke. Barney graduated from Stewartville High School in 1940. Following graduation, Barney worked at Boeing Aircraft in Seattle, Washington. Returning to Racine in 1942, Barney joined his dad on the family farm until he enlisted in the US Airforce in 1942. He served as a member of the Flying Horsemen 449th Bomb Group in the 15th Air Force in North Africa and Italy during WWII. From 1949 to 1951, during the Korean Conflict, Barney served as an Aircraft Maintenance Inspector in the Philippines and was honorably discharged as a Tech Sergeant. On October 27, 1945, he married Shirley Irene Kvall at the Bear Creek Lutheran Church in Grand Meadow. When Barney returned from the Korean Conflict, he began work at Jahns Farm Implement in Racine as parts manager from 1952 to 1961. At that time, he transferred his family to Owatonna where he began working for the Steele County Implement from 1961 until his retirement in 1985. He took up volunteering and woodcarving during his retirement. For more than ten years, he was a volunteer naturalist and educator at River Bend Nature Center in Faribault. A longtime member of the Woodcarvers Association, he took his carvings to various shows around the country specializing in waterfowl and caricatures. Barney was a life-long member of the Stewartville Masonic Lodge 203, raised on December 17, 1952 and attaining the level of Master Mason. He was also life member of the VFW in Owatonna and a member of the United Methodist Church. Throughout his life, he enjoyed camping with his family, fishing, cross-country skiing, hiking, wildlife watching, wintering at Galveston, TX on the Gulf of Mexico and nature study at Rice Lake State Park, where he helped lay out the original ski trails in the 1960's. He is survived by his wife Shirley Meschke of Owatonna; daughter, Janice (and John) Leffler of Austin, TX; daughter, Sandra (and Bill) Backowski of Little Falls; daughter, Karla (and Don) Belina of Medford; son, Jon (and Deb) Meschke of Superior CO; grandchildren Andrew Leffler, Marcy (and Sammy) Seijas, Ben (and Emily) Backowski, Sara (and Richard) Lew, Kelsy Belina, Kyle, Logan and Jared Meschke; a great-grandson Connor Seijas; a sister, Delores (Ray) Stiles of Richfield, along with three nieces. Barney was preceded in death by his parents. Visitation will be at Michaelson Funeral Home on Friday, February 13, 2009 from 5-7 PM and at United Methodist Church on Saturday, February 14, 2009 from 10-11 AM. Funeral services will be held February 14, 2009 at 11:00 AM at United Methodist Church with Pastor Loren Olson officiating. Interment will be held at a later date in the Minnesota Veterans Cemetery in Little Falls. Memorials are preferred to Nature River Bend 1000 Rustad Road Faribault, MN 55021. Visitation: 02/13/2009 17:00 02/13/2009 19:00 Service: 02/14/2009 11:00