Allen Merriam

Allen Merriam, age 81, of Huron, passed away Thursday, August 21, 2025, at the Huron Regional Medical Center.

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His funeral service was held at 10:00 AM, Tuesday, August 26, at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church. Entombment was held in the Restlawn Memory Gardens Mausoleum. His service was live-streamed.

Visitation with family present was held from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, Monday, August 25, at the Kuhler Funeral Home.

Allen "Al" Robert Merriam was born October 24, 1943, near Roswell in Miner County to Robert and Mildred (Clausen) Merriam. He went to school in Argonne from kindergarten through the eighth grade and then attended Carthage High School before graduating in 1961.

He married Wanelda Callies on August 11, 1961, and they moved to Huron where he spent the remainder of his life. The couple raised three sons and a daughter.

Al spent 36 years working in the meatpacking business, starting with Armour's from 1961 through 1983. He later worked for Huron Dressed Beef, Dakota Pork and Swift before closing out his employment career by working 10 years at Our Home, Inc. He also worked for KIJV Radio as a sports broadcaster.

The Merriams attended Mount Calvary Lutheran Church where Allen served as a Sunday School Superintendent for 12 years.

Other than his family, Al had two great loves in his life: Elvis Presley and sports (namely baseball). He enjoyed watching many of the movies that Elvis made in his career. He played basketball, football and baseball in school and also was very active as a coach and fan for each of his children's sporting activities. He coached all three of his sons in Little League baseball and later played amateur baseball with all of three of them.

Al spent 36 summers playing baseball, covering more than five decades and producing a lifetime of memories. As an American Legion Baseball player, he played for Howard teams that won state Class B titles in 1960 and 1961. The 1960 team was one of only two Class B teams in history that won the overall state title and represented South Dakota in the Central Plains Regional at Bismarck, North Dakota.

He spent 27 years playing amateur baseball in South Dakota for teams in Alpena and Huron and was inducted into the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010. In 1975, he became the oldest player in state history (32) to homer three times in a state amateur baseball tournament game. Al homered in the same inning with his son Rod in 1981 and is part of three generations of Merriams (including his father Robert for Vilas in 1934) to homer in the state tourney. Merriam also played on South Dakota teams that won 50-and-over division titles in 1994 and 1995 at the Men's Senior Baseball World Series in Phoenix, Arizona.

Al is survived by his wife; one daughter, Tricia (Ross) Sundeen of Watford City, ND; three sons, Rodney (Misti) Merriam of Sioux Falls, Roger (Kris) Merriam of Watertown and Troy (Carrie) Merriam of Huron; ten grandchildren; Maddie (Alex) Schnell, Connor Merriam, Brittany (Justin) Schwieger, Quinn Merriam, Mollie Merriam (Jordan), Gerrit (Betty) Merriam, Chrystal Merriam, Olivia (Tommy) Dwyer, Addison Sundeen (Casey) and Avery (John William) Suter; seven great grandchildren, Graham, Jax, Blakely, Cortland, Lavin, Rhep and Rossi; and one brother, Rick (Gloria) Merriam.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his older brother, Gary; and another brother, Curtis, who died as an infant.

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