Lifetime Carson Valley rancher dies in Sparks

Marvin F. Settelmeyer, former Douglas County commissioner and rancher who descended from Carson Valley pioneers, died March 21, 2002, in Sparks. He was 83.

Settelmeyer was born Aug. 12, 1918, to Frank and May Marquat Settelmeyer on the family ranch on Genoa Lane. He was a descendant of pioneer families who settled in the Carson Valley in the 1870s and 1880s. His father Frank was the son of Arnold and Charlotte Schacht Settelmeyer and his mother's parents were Henry and Anne Marie Wennhold Marquat. Marvin's parents purchased the ranch from the Marquats in April 1919.

The family operation was a recognized leader in the dairy business being the first in the Carson Valley with the most modern Grade A dairy barn.

Settelmeyer was a Douglas County commissioner from 1952 to 1970, serving many terms as chairman. He was a lifetime member of Trinity Lutheran Church.

Settelmeyer was involved in many organizations as a result of the business operation including memberships in the Douglas County Farm Bureau, Nevada State Dairy Commission, Nevada and California cattlemen's associations, Little Walker Cattle Association, dairy department of the Nevada Farm Bureau, American National Cattlemen's Association, Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis Club and Nevada State Welfare Board.

He married Evelyn Gardella on June 16, 1946, in Reno. They lived on the family ranch where he was involved in ranching and the large dairy operation with his parents and twin brothers Robert and Richard. In 1967, Marvin and Evelyn moved to Minden and lived there until health care required other arrangements. Evelyn died in 1986.

Mr. Settelmeyer was preceded in death by his father in 1964, his mother in 1991 and his brother Robert in 1979. He is survived by his daughters, Karen White of Minden and Marie Layton of Reno, granddaughter Renae White of Carson Valley and brother Richard of Reno.

Also surviving are numerous cousins from the Settelmeyer, Schacht, Marquat and Wennhold families as well as the names of Fricke, Graunke, Gardella, Spina, Heidtman, Anderson, Storke and Yparraguirre families and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Memorial services will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Gardnerville. Donations in Mr. Settelmeyer's name may be made to the church.