Merilyn was born May 16, 1922 in North Dakota, the daughter of Ralph and Wendella Manning. As a young child, Merilyn lived in North Dakota with her parents, older sister Shirley Manning (Molsness) and younger brother Ross Manning. In 1936 the family moved to Kalispell, Montana. Attending school was always important to Merilyn, from the one-room school house in North Dakota to the larger high school in Montana. In 1941, she was accepted to the School of Nursing at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, Washington. It was here that she began a lifelong commitment to nursing and caring for others. Merilyn joined the Army Cadets during her last year of training. She served as a surgical nurse at Hammond General Hospital in Modesto, California during the end of World War II. Merilyn married Wendell (Bill) Faucett in April of 1944. Sadly, Bill died in May of 1946, widowing Merilyn. Her first daughter, Judy, was born seven months later. Shortly after the death of her first husband, Merilyn went to work for the Spokane County Health Department as a public health nurse. In October 1948, Merilyn married John Lloyd and settled in Deer Park, Wa. In the next several years, Merilyn and Johnny welcomed four more daughters; Janet, JoAnn, Jill and Jeri. In July 1957, Merilyn was widowed for the second time. Merilyn and her daughters moved to the Central Valley area of the Spokane Valley. It was this home that Merilyn lived in for more than fifty years. Merilyn returned to work in public health and shortly after began attending night classes at Whitworth College to advance her nursing degree. It was during this time that she, and her daughters, joined a local ministery and became charter members of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. The church was an important part of her life, she was most recently a member of Advent Lutheran Church in the Spokane Valley. As her daughters grew, Merilyn advanced in her career as a public health nurse. In 1975, she was asked to take over as Director of Personal Health Services. Merilyn retired from the Public Health Department in 1983, but continued to serve on the State Board of Nursing for several years. Professionally, Merilyn was an inspiration both as a nurse and as an advocate for education. All five of her daughters and her four grandchildren went on to achieve university degrees.
While being a professional was very important to Merilyn, so was being an active parent, grandparent and great-grandparent. Merilyn collected adventures! While her daughters were growing up, camping and hiking trips were common summer vacations. Merilyn loved being outdoors and loved camping on the coast. As her family grew, so did her adventurous spirit. Over her lifetime she enjoyed travels around the continental U.S., as well as Alaska, Hawaii, Europe, Norway and the Caribbean (to name a few). Merilyn also loved to golf, continuing to play for as long as she was able (and making sure at least one great-grandson learned the sport). Merilyn also loved baseball. Those passions took her on several adventures to see games and to play courses around the country. She instilled a love of travel in her grandchildren with trips to Disneyland, San Francisco, and Boston among other locations. While she loved to travel, she also loved simpler adventures, to go for a hike, go sledding, have a picnic - Merilyn was game for just about any type of activity. When a physical adventure wasn't readily available, Merilyn grabbed the closest book at hand. She was a life-long, avid reader. Her spirit of adventure was infectious among her family and friends.
Merilyn is survived by a close and loving family - her daughter Judy Wold who is married to Jim, daughter Janet Davis, daughter Jo Ann Lloyd, daughter Jill Lay who is married to Richard and daughter Jeri Bonser who is married to Floyd. Merilyn also has several grandchildren and great grandchildren. Jennifer Chase, who is married to Kyle, has sons Connar and Aiden. Brenda Thosath, who is married to Travis, has daughters Desirae and Chloe. Alison Bonser and Jon Bonser who is married to Kristen. She is preceded in death by her grand-daughter Juli Wold, who died in 1992.
Interment, for family, will be at Fairmount Memorial Gardens, 5200 W. Wellesley at 11:00 am on Friday November 14, 2014.
Memorial service and reception at Advent Lutheran, 13009 E. Broadway, at 2:00 pm on Friday November 14, 2014.
Hazen & Jaeger Funeral home are responsible for the arrangements.
In lieu of flowers please make a donation to a charity close to Merilyn's heart, the Second Harvest Food Bank. (https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/1442089 or call 509-252-6265)
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