Mark
Merrill
deactivated
Mark was larger than life – something that was easy to see by anyone who met him. If you’re wondering if you did meet him, you didn’t, because you would have remembered meeting Mark.
Born in Texas, Mark lived for 11 years in Duncan, Oklahoma and then moved to Marshall, Texas. He excelled in sports from a young age. He started playing baseball at the age of 6 playing with the 7 and 8-year-olds and pitched several perfect games as well as hitting many home runs. He also wrestled, played football and basketball.
In 1962, at the age of 9, Mark won the regional Pass, Punt and Kick competition for several states and represented those states at an NFL game in St. Louis. Mark graduated from Marshall High School in 1971 and went on to play baseball at the University of Texas Arlington, graduating in 1975 with a bachelors degree in history and business.
For over 20 years he coached youth baseball, basketball and soccer at the YMCA of Arlington. And Mark was an AVID fan of the Texas Rangers and Texas Longhorn football and would rarely miss a game. And he had a particular distaste, to put it lightly, for the New York Yankees and OU football.
Beyond sports, he also had a love for painting and was invited to exhibit his artwork at one of the top 10 juried art shows in the United States. In addition to sports and art, Mark was active in conservative politics and loved fishing and classic movies – and prided himself on knowing many of the lines from those movies.
Above all, Mark was a proud and doting father of his only daughter, Katie. Because she was born with heart defects, Mark spent many long days and nights in the hospital at his daughter’s bedside praying and fighting for her. He was passionate about making sure that she received the very best care, and also that fellow patients and their families received the same. And if you had a moment to spare, he might even tell you about how he became “the Godfather” of Boston Children’s Hospital many years ago.
Mark was full of stories and he would tell you one, whether you asked for it or not. He loved being a Texan and sharing all about his favorite state in the union, but also loved traveling on road trips throughout the country. Along the way, he would visit the many friends he had made. Mark always wanted to stop in and visit. He was loud, funny and most always the center of attention. Mark loved to make his friends and family laugh.
And when he wasn’t telling you a story, he was asking how he could help. Mark would give the last dollar he had in his pocket if he thought you could use it. He was immensely kind and loving.
Mark is survived by his daughter Katherine McLemore and husband Joshua McLemore; grandson Carson McLemore; brother Bill Merrill, Jr.; sisters Diane Shade and husband Fred Shade and Deborah Merrill; niece Suzanne Bohan and husband Michael Bohan and their daughters Natalie and Alexandra; and aunt Sue Merrill. He is preceded in death by his father William (Bill) Thomas Merrill and mother Margaret Hatfield Merrill. He will be deeply missed by all of his family and friends.
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