Merine Ann Heberger

1946 - 2020

Merine Ann (Derby) Heberger
October 15, 1946 - November 28, 2020
Boise , Idaho - Her Beginnings. Merine Ann (Derby) Heberger was born in Jamestown, North Dakota to her loving parents Virginia and Gordon Derby. Her beginnings were humble. The family was poor and struggled with everyday needs, but Merine and her two sisters (Kathleen and Nancy) were loved and had their basic needs provided.
School Times. She excelled as a student in elementary and high school; was active in school activities, including cheerleading for the Jamestown Bluejays; and enjoyed socializing with friends at "Teen Canteen" a cherished, after-school activity.
Beginning Her Career. Upon graduation in 1964 she began her career ladder -- which she would build on her own merits, rung by rung -- starting in an administrative position at a bank in Jamestown and ending in early retirement as a corporate executive.
A Big Move. In 1965 she moved to Rochester, New York, where she had a grandmother, uncles, aunts, and cousins who would welcome her. There she took another administrative position in a bank but soon found herself in a personnel position at Eastman Kodak. That first Christmas she thought would be spent away from her home in Jamestown, but she was resourceful and found a way back to be with her family for the holidays. She had picked up evening work at a department store in Rochester that paid for her airline tickets home and back.
A Romance. It was in the summer of 1966 that she spotted this guy on a private beach on Lake Ontario, and a week later they found they were on a city bus together. In her words, "She met Roy on the beach on Lake Ontario in 1966." At the end of that bus line he approached her and they walked together, each engaging in awkward conversation. Her first impression of Roy Heberger was, "Nice guy, but I wouldn't want to date him." They dated. He proposed marriage on New Year's Eve after she was involved with a dangerous commercial air flight incident over Lake Michigan. His proposal terrified her more than the incident she had just survived, so she took it under advisement. In her words, "After a whirlwind romance, they married in August 1967 and spent their honeymoon on a Florida beach. It [any beach] would become their 'happy' place wherever they travelled..."
Married Life. Roy was to start a master's degree program at the University of Michigan, so during that summer they had found a small apartment to rent in the upstairs of a Cape-Cod home on the outskirts of Ann Arbor. Poor as church mice, as the saying goes, but happy as can be, their life together as a young, married couple had begun.
Career Resumed and Put on Hold. Merine's rung-by-rung assembly of her career ladder resumed in Ann Arbor. She found work in personnel at University Microfilms -- a Xerox company. Two banks, Kodak, and now Xerox -- at age 20. She took a work-a-day-world break in October 1969, when Lisa was born. In December 1972, Lori was born. Lisa and Lori are two opposites, and Merine and Roy loved them both. Time flew by as each matured toward adulthood, and they obtained college degrees, married, had babies, and moved on to careers of their own. Merine was and Roy is very proud of each daughter, who give all the love back time and time again.
Career Resumed. About a year after Lori's birth Merine was more than ready to resume her career ladder and in no uncertain terms let Roy know that she was returning to the work-a-day world. She landed at the University of Michigan Community Health Services Studies -- a research project, then at Youth for Understanding -- at their foreign student exchange corporate headquarters, then at ComShare -- a computer time-sharing company. With each move she added an impressive rung to her career ladder.
Another Move. In 1978 Roy was thinking of a change in his career path from Great Lakes' research to another branch of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The Ann Arbor area was nice, but it was too close to Detroit and masses of humanity. In early 1979 he was offered a position in Boise, Idaho. Merine's promising career was taking shape in Ann Arbor. She relented, and they moved west in the late winter. It meant that she had to resume construction of that career ladder and it must have felt like starting all over again after ComShare.
Career Resumed Again. In Boise she soon found herself at Ore-Ida -- an H J Hines company, where she eventually ascended to the position of Manager of Consumer Affairs. Impressive, when you think of this self-made woman lifting herself by her bootstraps all the way from her humble beginnings to being a corporate executive. The move from Ann Arbor to Boise provided first a problem, and then an opportunity, and she rose to the occasion.
Offered a golden parachute when Ore-Ida was to move from Boise to Hines corporate headquarters in Pittsburg, Merine took an early retirement in 1996 at age 50. Wow! Well done!
Retirement, When She Did Her Art. Merine had always aspired in life to be an artist. In retirement she developed a love of and real talent for stamping and card making — paper crafts. Her circle of friends grew. Eventually she taught classes and sold her products at Boise's Saturday Market in the Center on the Grove downtown. She never stopped with her crafts until just weeks before her death when tremors in her fingers presented some problems. That frustrated her to no end. Overall, she got her wish — she had become a very-talented artist. Although she would never think of herself as gifted in that way, she really was.
Family. Merine was focused on family from her beginnings, and with marriage and the births of two children and four grand children her focus got only more sharpened. She loved family and family events. So, she came up with her idea of having SOUP SUNDAY. On most Sundays family would gather around the dining room table for dinner and conversation. Sometimes it was actually soup as the main course. Over time Lori and Lisa would host on occasion.
Holidays Were Also Very Important. While home was designed around a great-room concept, the pretty-good room would be filled to overflowing with Christmas wrappings after gifts were opened. That is when the gift-wrap, paper-ball fights would begin. Easter and Thanksgiving were the same, lacking the paper-ball fights. She would make everyone feel special and loved.
Friends. All along the way her cadre of friends grew and grew. She was loved, respected, and admired by all, and yet she remained a very humble soul, which is why all who knew her loved her. In her words, "Merine lived a full life and was most grateful for family and friends who shared their lives with her."
Merine is predeceased by her parents and her youngest sister, Nancy Derby-Hodgdon. She is survived by her husband, Roy; daughters, Lisa Jones and Lori Gash; younger sister, Kathleen Betlock; grandchildren, Taylor, Carter, Nathan, and Ellise; son-in-law, Tyler Gash; brother-in-law, Eric Betlock; sister-in-law, Nancy Knapp; and cousins, nieces, and nephews. They all are most fortunate to have had Merine in their lives. She is loved and dearly missed.
Again, in Merine's words, "In lieu of flowers, [please] extend yourself by reaching out to a stranger with a gesture of kindness in Merine's honor." Merine left this list for Roy to share: "Donation Recommendations — [help for] school children dealing with trauma at home during COVID; [those suffering from] hunger, abuse, neglect; counseling services; and [efforts to prevent/curtail] sex trafficking/slavery." She cared deeply about a lot of issues, and she was so relieved at the outcome of the 2020 general election.
Arrangements for a memorial service with First Presbyterian Church are pending.