3 May 1920 – 11 Jun 2016
Wife of Keith Cardon Merrill Jr.
PAUL – Margaret Hawkes Merrill, a longtime resident of Paul, Idaho, passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 11, 2016, at the age of 96.
On May 3, 1920, in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, Margaret was born into a loving family. Her parents, Thomas Herbert and Elizabeth Ann Gibbons Hawkes, welcomed her with open hearts and arms.
At an early age, she moved with her family to Wendell, Idaho, where she attended school and completed her education. She loved school and enjoyed participating in many activities – especially playing on the junior high and high school girls basketball teams.
Margaret married her wonderful husband and best friend, Keith C. Merrill Jr., on Jan. 28, 1940 in Paul, Idaho and later sealed Jan. 3, 1941, in the Logan Utah LDS Temple. To this eternal family, three beloved daughters were born.
Margaret and Keith made Paul their home. Keith taught Vo-Ag at Heyburn and Minico high schools and Margaret was privileged to be a stay-at-home mother. However, being a homemaker included working in the home and being a “helper” on the farm where she worked side-by-side with her husband and daughters. These wonderful parents taught the value of hard work and instilled in their children the honorable life of honesty and integrity.
Margaret used her amazing talents in sewing, knitting, crocheting and cooking, to create a most wonderful and loving environment in the home. She and Keith also enjoyed traveling and together they visited many places. From 1969 to 1971, they had a wonderful experience teaching farming practices to the people of Afghanistan and how to manufacture farming equipment, which was done under a government contract.
She was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Margaret served her Heavenly Father in many capacities including: Primary president, teacher and nursery leader; stake Young Women president; ward Relief Society president, compassionate service leader, teacher, and faithful visiting teacher; and a Junior Sunday school coordinator. She was dedicated to her husband, Keith, as he was called to serve as the first stake president of the Paul Idaho Stake, and together, they had the wonderful experience as serving as missionaries in England from 1983-1984, and as officiators in the Boise Idaho Temple.
Margaret loved the Mini-Cassia area and served as a Pink Lady at Cassia Memorial Hospital, was a 4-H leader, and a voter registrar for Minidoka County.
She was truly an elite lady who never raised her voice, but was respected and loved by anyone who knew her. She will be remembered as a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend.
Survivors include her three daughters, Linda (Jay) Haskell of Kaysville, Utah, Kay (Ken) Chidester of St. George, Utah, and Ilene (Daryl – deceased) Serr of Paul; 17 grandchildren; 67 great-grandchildren; and 38 great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in the death by her parents; her husband; a son-in-law, Daryl Serr; and her siblings, Ada Winegar, Vaunda Smith, Mary Simpson, Clifford Hawkes, Nathan Hawkes, and Gene Hawkes.
The family expresses their sincere appreciation for the staff and management at Pomerelle Place (formerly the Warren House) for the wonderful assistance and care given to Margaret for the past 3 years.
The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, June 17, at the Emerson LDS Church, 127 S. 950 W., of Paul, with Bishop Rick May officiating. Burial will follow at the Paul Cemetery.
Friends may call from 6 until 8 p.m. Thursday, June 16, at the Rasmussen Funeral Home, 1350 E. 16th St., in Burley, and from 1 until 1:45 p.m. Friday at the church.
Paul Cemetery, Paul, Minidoka, Idaho
