John Charles Merrill

1927 - 2019

John "Jack" Charles Merrill, 92, of Santa Barbara, peacefully passed on August 28, 2019 at Mission Terrace in Santa Barbara, CA.

A Life Celebration service will be held 10 a.m., Friday, December 27, at the Goleta Presbyterian Church, Goleta, CA. A private burial ceremony will be held next summer in Fortville, IN.

Jack was born January 6, 1927 to Harry Edward and Maria Delanor (Miller) Merrill of Tonawanda, NY. He attended school in North Tonawanda, NY. Jack continued his education at Purdue University, Layfette, IN, where he received his BS in Civil Engineering.

Jack is a WWII Veteran having served as a Cryptographer in the United States Air Corp obtaining the rank of Sergeant.

Jack held various professional positions including working for the U.S. Post Office (Tonawanda, NY), engineer for Douglas Aircraft (Long Beach, CA), Project Director for both the Dept. of Agriculture (Wash D.C, Peoria, IL, Oakland CA), and the General Administration (San Francisco, CA).

Jack was an avid photographer with a love of nature and the outdoors. Many of his pictures were of God's creations, including magnificent sunsets, flowers, architecture, and of course, family, friends and strangers he met on his many travels. Other activities included teaching Bible study groups, extended visits with children and their families and helping with their home improvement projects, "rock hounding", gardening, woodworking, and keeping up with the latest technology.

He was married to Betty Jane Bradburn (deceased) with whom he had 5 children with. Jack was preceded in death by his sister Many Ann Phillips, and daughter Carol Jean Merrill, and was survived by his sister Betty Ryan (deceased 12/9/19) and brother Harry E. Merrill, Jr.; His children Cathy Ann (Merrill) and Laddie Suk, David Bruce and Pamela (Bittner) Merrill, Michael James Merrill and Quinci Sprague, and, Loribeth Merrill and Richard Simonitch; grandchildren, Ashley Suk, Danielle Suk, Brianna (Merrill) Almassey, Spencer James Merrill, and Cassandra Irene Merrill, Vanessa Stretton, Tamara (Stretton) See, Ethan Stretton; and great grandchildren Theodore and Everett See.

Jack will be remembered for his unwavering faith in, and following of, our Lord Jesus Christ, active involvement in his church, his many hobbies and skills, his kind and generous spirit, his sharp, inquiring engineering mind, and as someone who was always ready to lend a helping hand. Memorial may be donated to Guide Dogs for the Blind, https://www.guidedogs.com/support-gdb/donate