David Oliver Merrill

Pomfret, VT – David Oliver Merrill, 92, died peacefully at his home on Tuesday, September 1, 2026. He was born on March 21, 1934, in Los Angeles, California, the second son of Louis Faxon Merrill and Helen Akeson Merrill.

David completed his undergraduate degree at Harvard in 1955. A member of the Harvard Naval ROTC program, David served in the US Navy after graduation from Harvard. He followed that by obtaining a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Architecture from Yale in 1965.

His career as a professor began at the University of Washington-Seattle and continued at Pomona College in Claremont, CA. He ultimately gained academic tenure at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), serving for a period as the Chair of the Art and Art History Department. During his term of leadership, he also served as the curator for the inaugural exhibition “Figure and Field in America” in the newly opened Fine Arts Building.

David built a life with Eleanor (Coogan) Merrill and their four children, Peter, Rebecca, Abigail, and Jonathan. Eleanor’s family owned land in Pomfret. And, even though life took them to many other parts of the country due to David’s career, David and Eleanor always felt most at home in Vermont - returning there often over the years.

In the late 1980s, David drew upon his knowledge of architecture and aesthetics to design and build their home in Pomfret. A few years later, in the early 1990s, he retired and he and Eleanor moved into their beautiful Vermont home on the hill full time.

After Eleanor’s death in 1996 David reconnected with Charlotte Wheaton, an acquaintance turned friend from UTA. Their friendship blossomed into love and devotion and they married in 1999.

In a conversation a few months before his death, David said to Charlotte that “he felt as if he had woken up as Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life, and realized that he had touched many lives in a wonderful way and he and his life were worthy.”

David is survived by his wife Charlotte Merrill of Pomfret; four children Peter Merrill and wife Elyse Holsberg-Merrill of Quechee, VT, Rebecca Brinkley and husband Jack of Asheville, NC, Abigail Tubbs of Dallas-Fort Worth, TX, and Jonathan Merrill and wife Abigail of Bedford, TX; grandchildren, Melissa, Nicholas, Casey, Donovan, Kathryn, Benjamin, Eleanor, Olivia; numerous great-grandchildren; multiple in-laws, many nieces and nephews; and many friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents, wife Eleanor Merrill, and brother Robert Merrill and his son-in-law Charles Tubbs.

A Funeral Mass will be held at 10 am on Friday, September 11, 2026, at St. Anthony Catholic Church in White River Junction, VT.

If you feel inclined, memorial donations to the Upper Valley Haven, 713 Hartford Ave., White River Junction, VT 05001.