Richard C. Merriman MD

September 24, 1945 - December 5, 2018

It is with great pride that we remember Dr. Richard Charles Merriman, 73, who passed away peacefully on December 5, 2018 after a short illness. Richard was the eldest son of David and Orpha (Reinelt) Merriman of Deckerville, Michigan. He is survived by Barbara (Ridley), his wife of 49 years, his son David and wife Shannon, their sons Jack and Ryan, his daughter Sarah Pinto and husband John and their first child due in March 2019, his brother Roger and wife Jan, his sister Ann, his sister-in-law Ruth, Barbara’s brother Dennis and sister-in-law Phyllis, and many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Jim. After growing up on a farm in rural Michigan, he attended the University of Michigan for undergraduate and medical school. With Barbara at his side, an internship at Parkland Hospital in Dallas followed. As he was finishing his internship, he was drafted into the Navy and placed as a General Practitioner at Mare Island near San Francisco. After several years there and then as an Emergency Room doctor in Santa Rosa, California, he and Barbara moved to Texas where he pursued his Residency in Rheumatology and later started a medical practice at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. While an expert on a variety of subjects, including astronomy, law, religion, history, hunting, and clearly medicine, Richard’s true joy was his family. He could not have been more proud of the adults his children became. A celebration of Richard’s life will be held in his home state of Michigan in January. In lieu of flowers, Richard’s family requests that friends make donations in Richard’s honor to The Salvation Army. Arrangements are by the Apsey Funeral Home, Deckerville. Condolences may be sent on-line to apseyfuneralhome.net