William C. 'Bill' Merrill (1934-2006)

MERRILL, LACY, SCHNURR, ROTH, OSTRANDER

Posted By: Ames Tribune
Date: 9/15/2006 at 15:07:52

THE AMES TRIBUNE, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Friday, September 15, 2006.

William C. 'Bill' Merrill
March 2, 1934-Sept. 13, 2006
William Charles Merrill, 72, died Wednesday, Sept. 13, at Israel Family Hospice House in Ames after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 18, at Adams Funeral Home with the Rev. Russell Burnett officiating. Burial will be at 2 p.m. Monday in Graceland Cemetery in Webster City.

William Charles Merrill was born March 2, 1934, in Webster City, the oldest son of William and Anna (Lacy) Merrill. He grew up in Webster City, where he attended high school and then Webster City Junior College. He next served two years in the U.S. armed forces during the Korean conflict, and then continued on to earn a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Iowa State University, followed by a master's degree in statistics and a doctorate in economics from the University of California, Berkley. After receiving his graduate degrees, he returned to Iowa, where he taught economics at ISU for 36 years, and worked as a consultant on numerous projects for USAID, Inter-American Development Bank and other international programs. His consulting assignments afforded him the opportunity to travel to many developing nations, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Botswana, Zambia, and numerous central and south American countries. He wrote for many professional publications and co-authored the textbook "Introduction to Economic Statistics" with Karl Fox.

He married Mavis Schnurr Dec. 20, 1958. Over the years, his career took the couple many places, and in addition to Ames, they spent time in Berkley, Calif., where their older daughter, Jeannette, was born; in Lima, Peru, where their younger daughter, Allison, was born; and in Alexandria, Va. They finally returned to reside permanently in Ames in 1978. In 1979, Bill and Mavis opened a small business, Beacon Electronics, later renamed Beacon MicroCenter, which they operated for 24 years before selling the company in 2003, four years after he retired from ISU.

He was involved in a number of activities and hobbies. In addition to the pleasure he derived from spending time with his family, he enjoyed fishing, genealogy and computers. He was an avid photographer for much of his adult life and had become active in the Ames Camera Club in recent years. He was also an amateur (ham) radio operator and did volunteer work for the Red Cross emergency network.

He is survived by his wife, Mavis; two daughters, Jeannette Roth, of West Des Moines, and Allison Merrill, of Des Moines; son-in-law Les Roth; two grandchildren, Taliesin and Danielle Roth; one brother, Duane Merrill, of Kingston, Wash.; sister, Beverly Ostrander, of Weslaco, Texas; and sister-in-law, Wanda Schnurr, of Webster City.

He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Anna Merrill.

Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, at Adams Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions may be made to Amanda the Panda family grief services in Des Moines, and to Israel Family Hospice House in Ames.

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