Muriel Estella Merritt, 89, of New Meadows, Idaho, died Feb. 13, 2002, at St. Elizabeth Health Care Center in Baker City, surrounded by three generations of her family.
Her funeral will be Saturday at 2 p.m. at the New Meadows United Methodist Church. Pastor Leathar Essinger will officiate. Interment will be at Meadow Valley Cemetery.
Visitations will be today until 6 p.m. at Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave.
Mrs. Merritt was born Dec. 29, 1912, down on the Snake River out of Joseph to Elben F. Dotson and Lillian (Lilly) Snyder Dotson. Her mother passed away when she was 17 months old.
Following her father’s remarriage the family moved to Indian Valley, Idaho, when she was about five. They later moved to a ranch outside Cambridge, Idaho, where she graduated from high school in 1931.
Following graduation she went to work as a cook for the Circle C Ranch in Meadows Valley, where she met the love of her life, Lawrence J. Merritt. They were married in the Circle C Ranch house in 1932. They had three children: Lawrence Norman, Lillian Darlene, and Beverly Anne.
Mrs. Merritt loved anything to do with words, reading, talking with family and friends, and writing. She won numerous contests for writing short essays, jingles and slogans. She loved poetry and wrote many poems. She also was a reporter for the Adams County Leader and the Star News for many years.
Mrs. Merritt was an avid gardener, transforming the rocky area around their home into a beautiful yard with many varieties of flowers.
All who knew her, especially her family, loved Mrs. Merritt. Her grandchildren cherished the many happy hours they spent in the home that she and their grandfather built. Her grandchildren were the joy of her life. She always had time to sit and hold them, telling them stories, reading to them or just loving them.
She was a dedicated homemaker, always putting her family first. Not only her children and grandchildren, but also the many friends who often accompanied them to visit Grandpa and Grandma Merritt’s, remember the many wonderful meals she put on the table.
She loved the Lord and was baptized in 1956.
Her beloved Lawrence passed away April 15, 1984, from cancer.
Mrs. Merritt is survived by both her brothers and sisters-in-law, Melvin and Inez Dotson of Cambridge and Floyd and Lillian Dotson of Storrs, Conn.; her children, Lawrence Norman Merritt of Boise, Steven and Lillian Terry of Baker City, and Beverly Anne Murdock of Lake Forest, Calif.; six grandchildren, Melanie Clogg, Bonnie Roseberry, Carol Thamert, Robert Hibbard, John Murdock and Christopher Murdock; 11 great-grandchildren and two great-greatgrandchildren; numerous step-grandchildren; and many other family members, nieces, nephews and friends.
Mrs. Merritt was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and a daughter-in-law, Eva Merritt.
Though she will be missed by all who knew her, a piece of her will live on in each of them.
Contributions in Mrs. Merritt’s memory may be made to the New Meadows United Methodist Church, in care of Gray’s West & Co., P.O. Box 726, Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, February 15, 2002
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor