LUDLOW, Vt. – Robert “Bob” Merriam, 90, passed away peacefully at home on March 8, 2026, after a brief fight against cancer. He was born on July 12, 1935, the son of Harold and Earline Merriam, of Bridgewater, Vt.
Following high school in Woodstock, Vt., Bob attended Wentworth Institute of Technology, and graduated in 1955 with an engineering degree. He resided in Ludlow, Vt., for more than four decades, enjoying hunting, fly fishing, hiking (completing the Long Trail end to end), gardening, and playing Double King Pead with family and friends at the family deer camp in Plymouth. He spent his working life primarily at Jones & Lamson in Springfield, Vt., as a machine tools engineer during the industry’s heyday. He also had military service, being drafted into the Army Reserve in 1957, where he qualified as expert rifleman with a perfect score.
Bob married his high school sweetheart Shirley Perkins in 1956, and together had four children: Michael, Stephen, Deborah, and James. She preceded him in death in 1989.
Bob remarried in 1990 to JoAnn Thomas, and shortly thereafter they retired to Florida for the next 15 years, where they basked in the warm weather and enjoyed the excellent fishing, and a vast expanse of friends and neighbors. Only Hurricane Ian in 2022 could change their retirement plans; they rode out being in the eye of the storm track with visiting daughter Deborah, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Cavendish, Vt.
Bob is survived by sons Michael, Stephen, and James, of Maine, Montana, and Vermont respectively; daughter Deborah, of Alaska; stepdaughter Jill Thomas, of Henderson, Nev.; adopted daughter Kathleen Ehlers, of Ludlow, Vt.; nine grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. In remembering Bob, we know we “hit the lottery” to have him as a father and husband, and learned the right way to live our lives through the standards of character, decency, and humility he personified.
Bob wished for no service, and, in lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Bridgewater Congregational Church, P.O. Box 4, Bridgewater, VT 05034. A Celebration of Life will take place at a future date.