Great Grandpa Merrell, (the stately gentleman shown above in the blue shirt & tie) passed away last night. He was 103 1/2 years old, and though his eyesight and hearing had declined, his mind and his humor were still completely in tact until the day he died.
He once told me that he had loved me since the first time he had ever heard about me. He always made me feel special. I loved him, and I will miss him.
To give you a feel for the kind of man that he was, here is an excerpt from his oral personal history:
"Ross and I were coming home from a party. We saw some girls walking ahead. Ross said, 'Let's go get a girl to walk home with us.' I walked up to Marie and put my arm around her and said, 'Could I walk home with you?' Marie slid her left arm around my back . . . and you might not believe it, but I felt sparks all along my arm where it touched her back. It was warm and like an electric shock. I can still feel it. I had walked other girls home, but I never felt like that. I kept wanting that same feeling again. We went together for about two years before we were married. We were married in the Salt Lake Temple, August 19, 1925. Then I went with her for another 78 years.
"For a date we used to go to the picture show. They didn't have sound then only words written across the bottom. Most people sat at the back, but Marie's eye sight was so poor that we would sit at the front and I'd lean my head over and quietly read the words so I wouldn't disturb the others."
What a sweetie! Good-bye Grandpa Harold! You will be missed!
