Merlin L. Hetrick

Merlin Lee Hetrick, our beloved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away peacefully at home on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, at the age of 89. Merlin was born on March 3, 1932 in Toledo, OH, to Gerald A. and Elsie D. (Lilje) Hetrick. He was a student at Ohio School for the Deaf, leaving in 1952 to begin working at Jeep Corporation. On July 5, 1969, he married his lifetime love Vicky Lee Green in Toledo. Together, they loved traveling in RVs, going to events at Toledo Deaf Club, watching endless game shows on TV, and attending service at Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, of which they were both members. During their 51 years of marriage, they enjoyed spending their anniversaries traveling to Toledo Zoo and to Put-In-Bay. Merlin retired from Jeep after 32 years in 1985, and moved to Oak Harbor with his family not long after. He made the most of his long retirement by birdwatching on his porch, building model planes and attending nearby airshows, and going to his favorite restaurant Rudy's after congregational meetings. He traded the jet-skis and snowmobile riding from his young adult days for puttering around his property on the lawn tractor. He loved his large collection of plaid shirts and suspenders, and made it his mission to tell us we were all driving too fast. Merlin was a delightfully funny man, quick with a smile and a laugh, and enjoyed cracking jokes most of all with his granddaughter, whom he cherished. He was known to everyone for his consistency, organization, and steadfastness, and was the rock on which his family stood. In addition to his loving wife Vicky, Merlin is survived by his son Merle G. Hetrick, his granddaughter Savannah J. Hetrick, and by Cristina M. Shepard. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Paul A. Hetrick, and his favorite dog Sandy the Pomeranian. Visitation will be from 2-8pm on Thursday, April 1, 2021 at the Robinson-Walker Funeral Home & Crematory in Oak Harbor, OH, with the family present from 2-4pm and from 6-8pm. A funeral service for Merlin will be conducted at 11am on Friday, April 2, 2021, at the funeral home. Interment will be at Salem Township Union Cemetery in Oak Harbor. In lieu of donations, the family requests that you remember Merlin while taking a walk in nature or out on open water, watching the birds, and enjoying the beautiful world that God created. Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.walkerfuneralhomes.com.