Thomas Merritt was a visionary who provided for and protected his children, grandchildren and future generations.

As a child, Tom was raised on a farm with his four siblings in Harrellsville, North Carolina. Even as a young person, Tom was a visionary who set goals and always accomplished what he set his mind to. Evidence of this is the many successful careers Tom had, and the family-centered life that he led.

Tom met the love of his life, Anne Vaughan, in high school. After school, Tom enlisted in the Air Force and served for several years. During that time, he had plans to become a pilot, but after learning that pilots could not be married, he chose love. He resigned and proposed to his high school sweet heart, Anne. They married at the ages of 20 and 21 on September 24, 1951.

As a young adult, Tom worked as an air traffic controller with the FAA and as a barber in Norfolk, Virginia. Years later, he moved his family to Harrellsville, his hometown, where he was on the Town Council then elected as Mayor, worked as the bank vice president and farmer while adding greatly to the community he served. He was also the Chairman of the Deacon Board, a Scout Leader and a Sunday School teacher.

Thomas Merritt’s greatest love was his family. During his later adult years, he purchased a fifty-two acre farm in 1983 in Pleasant Garden, NC, where he cultivated fields of sun- kissed hay, red apple orchards, and faithful gardens that grew vegetables season after season. There are two, large ponds used for swimming and all-day fishing tournaments that ended with a family fish-fry, one of Tom’s favorite past times. As a designer and builder, Tom had a hand in constructing multiple homes for his children and grandchildren to raise their families. A barnyard was also built to shelter many pieces of heavy farm machinery as well as multiple tool sheds used to house equipment for Tom’s many building projects. However, with as many foundations as Tom laid, he would say that the strongest foundation laid was that of his faith in Jesus Christ. His choice to believe was made at a young age, but his faith grew unshakeable after he experienced a miraculous healing from lymphoma in 2006 where God spoke words of faith, not fear to Tom as he stood by an apple tree in the orchard, he had planted many years prior. Not only had faithful crops grown on this farm, but his family and his faith were grown as well.

The greatest of buildings was that of the building of the foundation of his life on Christ, the rock on which he stood, allowing Tom to speak the words, “It is well with my soul” in his final days.

Thomas Merritt is survived by his wife, Anne Merritt; three children, Betty Wilson (Alan), Thomas Merritt (Cathy), and Ben Merritt; 7 grandchildren, 5 great-grandchildren; and sister, Connie Gorham.

In lieu of flowers, family requests donations be made to St. Jude Hospital, which he loved to support.
He will be honored with a celebration of life on Saturday, July 31, 2021 at 10am at their farm in Pleasant Garden, NC.