Richard W. Merrill ’47

Richard “Dick” Woodbury Merrill, 92, passed away Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020 at the Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough, Maine.

He was born in Gray, on April 27, 1927, the son of the late Ernest L. and Alice (Stanton) Merrill. After graduating from Cony High School in Augusta where he grew up, Richard attended the Maine Maritime Academy and the University of Maine at Orono.

He proudly served as a Lieutenant Junior Grade in the U.S. Navy as a radio officer aboard the USS Rankin. He married Mary Ann (Littlefield) Merrill and worked as a civil engineer for the Maine Department of Transportation for nearly 40 years, retiring 30 years ago.

He enjoyed classical music and played in the Augusta Symphony and Hallowell Band, was a prolific reader, a long-time amateur radio operator, an accomplished wood carver and he loved to build and fly his remote controlled airplanes. He was also a member of the Masonic Lodge of Augusta.

Richard was predeceased by his wife Mary Ann; his parents; his brother, Robert Merrill of Sarasota, Fla.; and his cousin Dale Trecarten of Bartlett, N.H.

He is survived by his son, Thomas Merrill and his wife Cheryl of Glen, N.H.; his daughter Anne Merrill and her partner Jon Capozza of Naples, Fla. and No. Monmouth; his grandchildren, Jennifer (Merrill) Smith and her husband Ryan of Peabody, Mass.; Alison (Merrill) Shelby and husband Kevin of Swansboro, N.C., Heather Jackson of No. Monmouth, Starcia Erving of Gardiner and Caleb Jackson of Dover, N.H.; great-grandchildren Avery Shelby and Jaxon Shelby of Swansboro, N.C.; sister-in-law Judy Merrill of Sarasota Fla.; and a nephew John Merrill and his wife Janet of Augusta.