22 May 1918 – 14 Jun 2014
2nd-Great-Grandson of Philip Cardon and Martha Marie Tourn
Great-Grandson of Jean Paul Cardon and Susannah Goudin
Grandson of Lucy Gaudin Cardon and William Merrill
Son of Keith Cardon Merrill and Lucy Grace Webb
Keith Cardon Merrill Jr., 96, of Paul, passed away on Saturday, June 14, 2014, at the Warren House in Burley.
Keith was born on May 22, 1918, in Richmond, Utah. He was the oldest of seven children born to Keith Cardon and Lucy Grace Webb Merrill. The family moved to Paul, Idaho, in 1920. He received his education in Paul and graduated from Paul High School in 1936. While in high school, he served as student body president. He was the first Eagle Scout in Paul. He attended the National Scout Jamboree in 1935 in Washington, D.C. Eleanor Roosevelt, the president’s wife, personally showed him and seven other Eagle Scouts through the White House. He attended LDS Business College from 1936-37. He worked as a bookkeeper for the Amalgamated Sugar Company in Paul and Nyssa, Ore. On Jan. 28, 1940, he married Margaret Hawkes of Wendell, Idaho. They were married by his father who was the bishop of the Paul Ward. This marriage was solemnized in the Logan Utah LDS Temple in January of 1941.
He entered the University of Idaho on Feb 1, 1940. They worked hard to get Keith through the university. He graduated in April of 1943. He taught Vocational Agriculture and Chemistry at Kimberly High School until he was drafted into the United States Army in May 1944. He went from Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Camp Roberts in California for basic training. After basic training, he was selected to go to Fort Benning, Ga., for officers’ candidate school. He graduated and was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in February of 1945. He went to Paul on a 10-day leave and picked up his wife, Margaret, and two children, Linda, age 3, and Kay, who was 3 months old, and drove an old 1937 Dodge back to Camp Wheeler, Ga. The family was together again until August of 1945 when he received orders to serve in the South Pacific. He served in the Philippines seeing mop-up action at first, and then as battalion executive officer in a replacement depot until May 1946.
He built a house in Paul for his family and started teaching Vo-Ag and Chemistry at Heyburn High School beginning in 1946. In 1947, they bought a farm in the Emerson area where they have since resided. In 1948, Paul High School Vo-Ag students were bussed to Heyburn. Minico High School started in the fall of 1955, then all county high schools went to Minico. Keith then taught Vo-Ag at Minico until 1969. At that time he and Margaret spent two years in Afghanistan as a farm machinery advisor. While in Afghanistan, they traveled to many countries in the Eastern World. They returned in 1971 and he taught until 1975, when he retired from teaching and took up full-time farming on his 130-acre farm. He and Margaret lived on the farm from 1947 until December of 2012, when they moved to the Warren House Assisted Living.
In 1959-1961, he earned a Master’s degree in Ag-Ed from Utah State University. He served in many service and Co-op organizations. He was president of the Minidoka County Teachers’ Association, chairman of West End Electric Co-op for four years, president of the Farm Labor Association for Minidoka County for nine years, president of the Idaho Vo-Ag Teachers’ Association for two years, and as president of the Idaho Vocational High School Teachers for two years. During his teaching career, 122 students won national recognition in the Lincoln Arc Welding Contest – many were first and second place winners. He received an Honorary American Farmer’s Degree from the National Future Farmers of America in Kansas City, Mo., in 1969. He served as chairman of the Cassia Regional Hospital Board for 15 years. He has written two text books on teaching farm shop in high school and a shop book and repair manual for the University of Kabul in Afghanistan in English and Persian. He has also written a comprehensive history book of the Emerson area.
After retiring, he served an LDS mission with Margaret to England from 1983-84. He rented out the farm and enjoyed community service. He and Margaret had a large fifth-wheel trailer and traveled to many places in the USA. They also visited Hawaii, Mexico, and Alaska. Starting in 1992, they bought a home in St. George, Utah, and spent six months there each winter until 2004.
He was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints all his life. He served as president of the Young Men, Sunday school teacher, was a member of the high council for six years, served in a bishopric for nine years, and as bishop of the Emerson Ward for three years. Keith was the first stake president of the Minidoka West Stake (now known as the Paul Idaho Stake) and served faithfully for 10 years. He and Margaret later served four years as temple workers in the Boise Idaho Temple.
He always loved his hobbies of building furniture, farm machinery, and beautiful iron furniture. He liked to fish the lakes and reservoirs in Idaho or Oregon.
He is survived by his wife of 74 years, Margaret Merrill; three daughters, Linda (Jay) Haskell of Kaysville, Utah, Kay (Ken) Chidester of St. George, Utah, and Ilene (Daryl, deceased) Serr of Paul; 17 grandchildren; 68 great-grandchildren; and 27 great-great-grandchildren; three brothers, Floyd (Marge) Merrill, Jay (Jane) Merrill, and Evan (Loretta) Merrill.
He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Reid Merrill and Lee Merrill; one sister, Ruth Merrill; and three great-grandchildren.
He loved to be with people. His first priority was his family. He really enjoyed being a teacher. Every student was his favorite.
The family expresses their sincere appreciation to the staff at Warren House for their loving care, and to the many friends and neighbors who helped in so many ways.
The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, June 19, at the Paul LDS Stake Center, 424 W. Ellis St. in Paul, with Bishop Rick May officiating. Burial will be in the Paul Cemetery with military rites provided by the Mini-Cassia Veterans Organization. Friends may call from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, at the Rasmussen Funeral Home, 1350 E. 16th St. in Burley, and from 10-10:45 a.m. Thursday at the church.
Paul Cemetery, Paul, Minidoka, Idaho
