Harold Paul Merrill, Sr. (Hal) of Chelsea, MI, long-time resident of Manchester, MI, left this earthly planet peacefully on Tuesday evening, October 13, 2020. Hal was determined to celebrate his 100th birthday, and he did just that this year on August 19, enjoying special time with family and friends.
Hal was born in rural Oklahoma, the second son and sixth of seven children born to Reuben John and Laura Jane (Watt) Merrill. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 52 years, Lois Dell (Roberts) Merrill.
Born during the Great Depression, Hal was raised on a farm, and could remember standing in the field looking up at the silver airplanes flying above, and vowing that one day he would be in one. When Pearl Harbor happened, through Herculean effort, he joined the Navy and became a pilot. Stationed in the South Pacific war theater, his job was to fly the deceased and wounded back stateside to Honolulu, at night, by the stars, because there was no radar—and the only way to navigate was by a three-star fix. He became skilled at landing and taking off on the small runways built by the Army Corps of Engineers on the islands in the South Pacific, and, because of that skill, he was requested by many of the admirals and generals to be their personal pilot. When he returned stateside to Norfolk, VA, he became a requested pilot for the White House, and flew many important dignitaries. His favorite sayings were, “Go, and be on time” and “Fly low and slow, and throttle back on the turns”—and these became his mottos for life. When he retired from the Navy, he moved to Detroit, MI and began flying for General Motors, and piloting around the presidents of GM corporations. Again, he was chief pilot because of his skill and low incident record. He had an interesting and exciting life and retired with 50,000 hours of flight time. By this time, he moved to a small farm in Manchester, MI, where he dearly loved baling hay and raising goats, chickens, peacocks, and other types of animals.
Hal had a great sense of humor and was always cracking a joke. A proficient handyman, he taught all of his children to be self-sufficient, changing the oil in their cars, driving manual transmissions including tractors, and gardening—especially pulling weeds. His was truly a life well-lived.
Hal is survived by six children, Lori Alpert, Laura Blades (Gary), Lynette Fioroni (Joe), Harold Merrill, Jr., Lois Merrill, and Lisa Spears (Mike); 12 grandchildren, Joel Blades (Emma), Melissa Blades, Josh Blades (Sarah), Nick Fioroni (Sarah), Sam Fioroni (Sarah), Maddie Fioroni, Richard Janish, Sharilyn Leutz (Tony), Paul Spears (Cori), Kenzie Spears, Mara Spears, John Spears; and two great-grandchildren, Natilee Leutz and Francis Fioroni.
In accordance with his wishes, Hal was cremated and the memorial service will be private. Expressions of sympathy may be made in Hal’s name to the Military Aviation Museum, 1341 Princess Anne Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23457 (https://militaryaviationmuseum.org/donations/). Arrangements by Staffan-Mitchell Funeral Home.
