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D B Merrill was born December 19, 1926 in Gans, Oklahoma, the son of Alvie Harrison Merrill and Alta Carrie House Merrill. He passed away on December 20, 2011 at the age of 85 in Ft. Smith, Arkansas with his loving wife and sons at his bedside. Before his retirement as a rancher and trader, in the 1950’s he worked at Camp Chaffee shining soldier’s boots and shoes. After that he worked for the Kansas City Southern Railroad, Ft. Smith Stockyards and managed the Sebastian County Humane Society in Ft. Smith, AR. On October 22, 1971 he married Corda Wiltshire in Poteau, OK and together they created a wonderful home for their children, filled with laughter, love and kindness.
D B was a family man and spent most of his life making children happy. He had a gift for storytelling and loved to share stories about bears, panthers and all kinds of animals with his nieces, nephews, and grandchildren. D B will be missed especially here at Christmas time, because he spent so many hours on the telephone calling all the children and pretending he was Santa Claus. He also taught his sisters, brothers, most of his nieces, nephews and grandkids how to drive.
He leaves to mourn his passing:
Wife: Corda of the home
3 sons: D B Merrill, Jr. of Muskogee, Ok.,
Steve Merrill and wife Judy of Tahlequah, Ok.,
and Gerald Wiltshire and wife Lavonn of Stilwell, Ok.
2 daughters: Becky Whitwell and husband Paul of Ft. Smith, Ar., and Carol Cantrell of Muldrow, Ok.
6 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren
4 sisters: Edith Peterson of Muldrow, Ok., Bonnie Fout, Bernice Fox and Gene Moody and husband James, all of Sallisaw, Ok.
Several nieces, nephews, cousins, and a host of friends and other family members.
He was preceded in death by his parents, 2 brothers:
A H Jr. (Acher) and Leon Merrill, 1 sister: Ruby Merrill Gunter
and son in law: Wendell Cantrell.
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