CAROL PAYNE MERRIMAN

MERRIMAN, CAROL PAYNE Carol Payne Merriman, died unexpectedly on Thursday, December 1, 2016 in North Haven, Connecticut. Carol was born Carol Virginia Payne in Ames, Iowa to Loyal and Anne Payne, and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska. After graduating from Pomona College, she moved to Washington, D.C., to work with Ralph Nader, and later the Library of Congress as well as the League of Women Voters. She married John Merriman on May 31st, 1980 in New Haven, Connecticut. Later, she received a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Yale University and a Master’s Degree in History from Southern Connecticut State University. John and Carol loved in Northford, Connecticut and in Branford College at Yale University, where John is a professor of History and served as Master of Branford for nine years, before moving to North Haven. Carol and her family resided a good part of each year in Balazuc, a small village in southeastern France. At the time of her death, she was completing an historical novel set in a southern French village. Carol loved travel, good food, markets, antiques, historical churches, playing the piano, swimming, and quiet walks in Sleeping Giant State Park, and in many regions of France. Carol touched so many lives with her quiet grace, her devotion to her family and friends, and her gentle Midwestern humor. She is greatly missed. In addition to her husband John, Carol is survived by her daughter Laura Payne Merriman, her son Christopher Alex Merriman, her sister Susan McNair Cobb Payne, and her brother Thomas Stewart Payne. The family would like to express thanks to Carol’s dear friend Janet McCarty for her support. Memorial services will be held in New Haven, Connecticut in April, and in Balazuc, France this summer. Please consider donating to the Syrian American Medical Society (http://foundation.sams-usa.net/donate/) in memory of Carol. The Washington Memorial Funeral Home, 4 Washington Ave., North Haven has been entrusted with arrangements. www.washingtonmemorialfh.com