Harley Laflin

**Service information: Friday November 7, 2025 at 10:00am at the Brenny Family Funeral Chapel, Baxter. Visitation will begin at 9:00am. Harley's family invites you to stay for lunch following the service.**

Harley Duane Laflin, of Baxter, MN (formerly of Brainerd and Backus, MN, passed away on October 31, 2025 in Baxter.

Funeral Services will be held on Friday November 7, 2025 at 10:00am at the Brenny Family Funeral Chapel in Baxter, with Pastor David Grotzke officiating. There will be a visitation held one hour prior to the start of the service. The family invites you to stay for lunch following the service. Burial will be held at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery in Little Falls with full Military Honors.

Harley was born to Harley and Bessie (West) Laflin on June 1, 1932 in Waterloo, Iowa. He was the third of four children. His family moved to Northern Minnesota in the late 1930’s, settling near Ponto Lake in the Backus area. He enlisted in the Air Force at the age of 17 and served as crew chief for an aircraft during the Korean War. Harley was Honorably Discharged in December of 1952 and returned to Minnesota. In 1953, he married Merilyn J. Smith and they spent over 66 years together as husband and wife before Merilyn passed away in 2019. They served many years in the ministry, as a pastoral and missionary family. Harley remarried in 2023 to Janet Allee.

Harley is survived by his wife, Janet Allee; son, Duane (Mary) Laflin; daughter, Janet (Terry) Ellevold; nine grandchildren, over 30 great grandchildren, and ten great-great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; Harley and Bessie Laflin, his first wife; Merilyn, his sister; Irene, and his brothers; David and John.

Harley loved God, his family and those to whom he ministered throughout the years. He prayed regularly and faithfully for them until the time of his death. He was passionate about telling others about Jesus and how to get to heaven. He liked to work with his hands, fixing things that had been discarded by others, and making new things. He made several airplane wind vanes patterned after the aircraft he worked on in Korea. Harley loved music and played the harmonica. He had a good sense of humor and teased the hospice nurses until the end. In recent years, he was often heard to say, “What’s it going to be like when I get old?” One of Harley’s greatest desires was each of you would know Jesus, accept God’s gift of salvation, and join Harley in heaven someday.

Arrangements are entrusted to Brenny Family Funeral Chapel, Baxter.