Walker Merell Obituary

Walker Ira Merell passed away peacefully in his sleep
on June 12, 2006 at the age of 75. He is survived by
his wife of 48 years, Sue, his two sons, Michael &
Patrick, and their wives, Dunya and Megan. He is also
survived by his younger brother John and his four
nieces and nephews, eight great nieces and nephews and
many cherished cousins. At the time of his passing,
Walker was awaiting the birth of his first grandchild.


Walker, known as “Red” to his family and friends, was
born in St. Louis, Missouri on August 5 1930, and was
raised in Toledo, Ohio. In 1950, while attending the
University of Toledo, Red was called up as a US Marine
reservist and sent to Korea where he was wounded in
the battle of the Chosin Reservoir and awarded the
Purple Heart. Upon his return to the states, Red
relocated his mother and younger brother to Northern
California where he attended the University of
California, Berkeley. Red married Sue McCabe on June
8, 1958 and shortly after settled in Orinda, where
they have resided for the past 45 years. Red spent
most of his career working for the US Govt. as a
Contracts Officer for both the Dept. of Defense and
the General Services Administration.

Red was a longtime member and held leadership
positions in several service-related organizations.
He was a charter member of both the National and local
chapters of the Chosin Few and the local chapter of
the1st Marine Division. He also belonged to the
Marine Corps League, the Marine Combat Correspondence
Corps, the VFW, C-1-7, the Purple Heart Org, and E
Clampus Vitus. Walker was especially proud that he was
able to help others succeed in filing disability
claims for cold weather injuries suffered at the
“frozen Chosin.”

Walker and his wonderful dry wit will be deeply missed
by his family and friends. He loved fishing and
enjoyed camping with his family, and in his later
years, with the men of Bodfish. He loved classical
music, opera and jazz. As an avid reader, his main
intersts were history and biographies. He was a great
sports enthusiast and held Raider season tickets for
many years.

A memorial service will be held on July 29, 2006 at 4
PM at the Lafayette Veterans’ Memorial Building, 3780
Mt. Diablo Blvd. Lafayette. In lieu of flowers, the
family requests donations to the 1st Marine Division
Scholarship Fund and/or the Semper Fi Fund which helps
defray costs for families to visit their wounded
servicemen.