Merrill Carlson

1934 - 2010

Merrill Anne Maile Carlson, 76, loving mother, adoring grandmother and kind-hearted friend to any pet needing something to eat or someone to trust, passed away in Greenville on August 27, 2010. She peacefully and without regrets began her next great adventure while in the loving embrace of her children and grandchildren, maintaining her sense of humor and penchant for the unexpected to her last breath.
She will be missed by many, but especially by her surviving family, including children Donya Hoefer, of Atlanta; Kerri Beeson, of Greenville; Doug Carlson, of Tal lahassee, Fla.; Reese Carlson, of Charlotte, and David Carlson of St. Augustine, Fla.; grandchildren Christy Hoefer, Alex Beeson, Laura Hoefer, Eric Beeson, Hannah and Calvin Carlson and Parker and Caitlyn Carlson.
She also is survived by beloved aunt and uncle Margaret and Carl Epting Jr. of Daytona Beach; cousin/brother the Rev. Chris Epting of Des Moines, Iowa; brother Christie Maile of Beaufort, S.C., and by numerous nieces and nephews. Also surviving is her trusted companion Buster, the little white dog she could be seen walking throughout downtown Greenville and who joined her in the 10-mile climb to the top of Table Rock on her 70th birthday.
‘Peetie,' as she was known, overcame the loss of both parents by age 6 by learning to rely on her most valuable asset: a fearless, creative and adventurous spirit that led her to the tops of mountains, way too far out in the ocean and into the hearts of total strangers the world over. Her extraordinary sense of compassion stirred greatest in the presence of children who needed a hug and animals in need of a place to rest.
Some of her best childhood memories were of fishing trips in the mountain with her grandfather, Reese Parker, founder of Dixie Home Stores in Greenville that later became Winn-Dixie. She graduated from Greenville High, Stephens College of Columbia, Mo., and the University of Florida. There, she met her one and only husband Norman Gilbert Carlson, cooked her indescribably good fried chicken as the talent portion of the Miss University of Florida competition and received a B.A. in art.
Peetie and Norm raised their children in Gainesville in a home full of love, laughter and pets, including the five chickens she secretly purchased the children for Easter that turned out, much to Norm's surprise one morning, to be roosters.
Peetie purchased a home on West Earle Street in 1978, decorated it with the quirky artwork that matched her personality and later owned and managed Appalachian Trail Outfitters in Clemson. When her youngest left home, she closed the store and, at age 52, set off for Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, where she earned a masters degree in creative art therapy.
She leaves a legacy of living each moment with a boundless appreciation for life's mysteries and for carrying out, by word and deed, her belief in this passage from Corinthians: "Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. … For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."
A Requiem Mass is planned for 12 p.m. Monday at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church downtown; Memorials may be made to Father Flanagan's Boys' Home of Tallahassee, Fla., or to St. Andrew's Episcopal Church.
Today, please show a special act of kindness to another soul, whether person or pet. It will make Grandma Peetie smile.
- Thomas McAfee Funeral Home, Downtown