Carol Martin Merrill

Carol Martin Merrill
Carol M. Merrill, 87, died peacefully with her family beside her on December 19th after a brief hospitalization.
She was born on May 2, 1937, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the daughter of Walter F. and Clara B. Martin and grew up in North Haven, Connecticut and Evanston, Illinois. Carol graduated from Hamden Hall Country Day School in North Haven, Connecticut in 1955 and attended Mount Holyoke College in Holyoke, Massachusetts where she graduated in 1959 with a BA in English Literature.
Carol and Keniston P. Merrill (Ken) began dating when they were in high school. They were married on June 27, 1959, two weeks after Carol graduated from college and were happily married for over 56 years until Ken's death in 2015. They lived in Armonk New York and Ridgefield, Connecticut until 1982. That year they moved to Brainstorm Farm in Randolph, Vermont where they enjoyed life together for over 30 years before moving to Woodstock, Vermont.
Carol loved animals, particularly Springer Spaniels and Golden Retrievers, and until late in life always had one or the other (or both) at her side. At one point her pets included two dogs, five cats, two rabbits, a horse, seven ducks and three goats. She was an avid gardener throughout her life and her extensive flower and vegetable gardens gave her great pleasure and satisfaction. Carol was a social person and collected wonderful friends wherever she went, but she was never afraid of being alone. She was creative and artistic and loved to needlepoint, knit and paint. Always a voracious reader, she filled her life with books, especially as she got older and her mobility became more limited.
An active volunteer, Carol was a Vermont State House tour guide for many years, helped organize and staff local Red Cross blood drives and volunteered frequently at the St. John's Episcopal Church in Randolph and St. James Episcopal Church in Woodstock.
At 5'1" and less than 90 pounds, Carol was a little lady with an enormous heart. She never complained, and her glass was always more than three quarters full. She often remarked about the great life she had and how lucky she was. She was an empathetic and compassionate listener who always saw the best in everyone and everything and was quick to dismiss life's medical and other setbacks with a simple "it is what it is." She enjoyed her family and her friends immensely and was instantly adored by all who knew her.
Family is what mattered most to Carol. She is survived by her son Peter Keniston Merrill of Morrisville, Vermont and his wife Harriette (Bunny) and her son Andrew Martin Merrill and his wife Erica of Rowayton, Connecticut. She is also survived by her five grandchildren Hanna Boe Merrill, George Keniston Merrill, Hadley Merrill MacCallum and her husband Will, Thorn King Merrill and Samuel Thurman Merrill and by her three great-grandchildren Jaime Boe Schrepfer, Miller Martin Schrepfer and Henry Merrill MacCallum. She was predeceased by her older brother Donald Martin. The family wishes to thank the staff of Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative & Hospice Care for their kindness, their extraordinary care and their enormous compassion.
A memorial service and celebration of Carol's life will be held next spring at St. James Episcopal Church in Woodstock, Vermont. For more information or to leave an online condolence please visit www.legacy.com.
For those wishing to make a donation in Carol's memory, please consider The Norris Cotton Cancer Center or the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative & Hospice Care at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, One Medical Center Dr., Lebanon, NH 03756.