Will Dockery Merritt, Jr.

Dr. Will Dockery Merritt, Jr., Oct. 6, 1930 – Dec. 6, 2022

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Will was predeceased by his wife, Pauline Ruth Merritt and his parents Will and Amory Merritt

Survived by his son, Dockery Merritt, III, his grandson, Dockery Merritt, IV, his siblings Cullen Merritt (Sandra), Amory King (Kale), John Merritt (Ellen), and many nieces and nephews.

Will was a native son, born in Mt. Airy, N.C.

He earned degrees from Carnegie Tech prior to earning his PhD in Chemistry at UNC Chapel Hill.

Will worked for General Electric in NY and Mass, Meer Corporation and UOP in Mass., Alpha Chemical and Syntecnix.

Will Merritt was a man that fought the good fight and finished the race. He enjoyed being with his family and helping others. He was a man of faith and was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Mt. Airy, where he was the head of the Staples Food Pantry for many years. He also built the cabinets in the nursery and Sunday School Classroom. Will was continually looking for new adventures. He loved the outdoors, was an avid hiker and rock climber, built a lightning sailboat and raced it, volunteered for the Audubon society banding and tracking the migration of birds. He volunteered and worked on the Appalachian trail clearing trails with the forest rangers. Will also became interested in beetles and had a massive beetle collection that he studied and documented their population, which was donated to a museum in N.C. He lived his life to the fullest, used the talents he was given, and he finished the race. Will Merritt will be missed and remembered by so many.

Please join in celebrating his life at 2 PM on Saturday, December 17th at Trinity Episcopal Church, Mt. Airy, N.C.

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