Obituary of Patricia Elizabeth Merrick

Patricia Elizabeth Merrick, or “Pat,” as she was known to her family and friends, passed away on Sunday, October 23, 2016, at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, after a long illness. Pat was 70 years old. Pat Merrick was born in Santa Monica, California, on October 22, 1946. She was an absolutely beautiful baby, and she received many compliments throughout her life as being pretty, and photogenic. Early on in her life she became the out going, feisty, funny character we all came to know and love. Her childhood was spent primarily in the San Fernando Valley, and Pat graduated from Birmingham High School in 1964. She continued to date her high school sweetheart, Dan Merrick, even though she went right to work at the telephone company. Even in her busy grown-up life, Pat continued to love life, spending time with friends and family whenever possible. Pat married and started her beautiful family when she just nineteen years old. By the time her two daughters were 3 and 6 years old, she started taking them to Hollywood to make commercials, television shows, and movies. This was an exciting and monumental time in her life as she watched her girls on the big screen. Even with her busy schedule of taking care of the girls, and Dan, she always managed to find time for impromptu camping trips, weekends in Vegas, and adventuresome vacations and outings that always were highlighted by some silly mishap that would be talked about for years. Another love of Pat’s life was her animals, especially her dogs. She had many dogs throughout her life. She got her first dog when she was still a baby, and it was a German Shepherd named Pudgy. That was the beginning of the menagerie of animals that followed. Pat enjoyed playing games throughout her whole life. Even when she was a little kid, we would play Monopoly for hours, and her competitiveness always kept the games interesting. She always beat me at Monopoly, and she always insisted on being the banker. Pat really had a great sense of humor, and everyone knew this about her. Her teasing and joking around made her the life of every party. Pat dearly loved her grandchildren-all seven of them. Whenever she spoke of any one of them her eyes would light up, and a smile would come to her face. Each of these grandchildren held an exclusive place in her heart, and she could readily recount touching remembrances of each of them. She truly knew how her daughters, their husbands, and their children, had blessed her life. Pat’s favorites in life were vacations, cruises, weekend trips to Vegas, parties, BBQs, Pepsi, See’s dark chocolate Bordeaux candy, soap operas, talk shows, and television in general. Over the years, television became an even bigger part of Pat’s life as her health continued to decline. This summer was Pat and Dan’s 50th wedding anniversary. This Fall was Pat’s 70th birthday. I wish she had been well enough to celebrate it with an exotic cruise, or just a few days in Las Vegas. Pat is survived by her husband, Daniel Merrick, her daughters, DeeAna Lynn Hammermeister, and Gina Marie Whitmarsh, and Pat’s grandchildren Tara Boller, Ashley LeBoeuf, Justin Hammermeister, Cody Hammermeister, Dylan Hammermeister, Christopher Whitmarsh, Kevin Whitmarsh, and her sister, Donna Kehrli, and her mother-in-law, Freda Merrick. As a family, we wish to extend our gratitude to the doctors and nurses that took such good care of our beloved Pat over the past several decades. Pat lived a life that was rich and full of joy until her illnesses took their toll on her life. She has left us behind far too soon, but God has brought her to His home in Heaven, to give her the comfort, peace and rest that only He can provide to those who abide in Him.