Merle "Tobe" Buchan age 91, of Perry died on Sunday, November 22, 2009 at his home. Funeral services will be held Friday, November 27, 2009, at 2:00 p.m. at Carris Family Funeral Home in Perry. Burial will be in the Greenbrier Township Cemetery North of Bagley, IA on Saturday November 28 at 11:00 a.m. Memorials will be given to Greenbrier Methodist Church and may be left at the Funeral Home.

Merle "Tobe" Thomas Buchan was born on April 7, 1918 in Montana to Elmer and Bess (Naylor) Buchan. His mother died 6 months after he was born and he then went to live with her sister Grace and her husband Gordon Bryan in Bagley, IA. He graduated from Bayard High School in 1935, and he married L. Grace Alex on November 30, 1939, in Des Moines, IA. Tobe was never afraid of hard work. He and his brother-in-law Jack Alex owned Alex and Buchan gravel pit at Coon Rapids, IA. Then Tobe began Buchan Construction Corp. in Bagley and later Perry Asphalt Corp. in Perry. He also started the Bar-Jac mobile home park in Perry and the development North on First Avenue in the Graceland Avenue area, providing affordable housing opportunities.

Tobe was a member of the Bagley Odd Fellows, Bagley Masons, and the Perry Elks Lodge. He loved golf and was a member of the Perry Golf and Country Club. He served as chairman of Perry Waterworks Board for 20 years. He was a board member of Life Investors in Cedar Rapids, IA, and a board member of Brenton Bank in Perry. He attended Iowa Hawkeye home games from 1958 until 2006 and was an avid Iowa Hawkeye fan with a large collection of Hawkeye memorabilia displayed in his home.

Tobe was preceded in death by wife, Grace Buchan, parents, Bess and Elmer Buchan and a sister, Pauline Schneider.

Survivors include his daughters, Barbara Anne Mullen, Coralville, IA, Jacqueline Jackman-Cunningham and husband Thomas, Oceanside, CA, 4 grandchildren; Kelly Mullen Passaneau and husband Michael of Park Ridge, IL, Linda Mullen Cronk and husband Clifford of Bettendorf, IA, Julie Mullen Mowery and husband Dan of Panama City, FL, and Daniel Jackman of Carlsbad, CA. He is also survived by 9 great grandchildren.

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