Merrill "Spike" Garner

Laconia---Merrill "Spike" Garner, 89, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, the 9th of December. He is survived by his children; Damian, Vincent, Laurie, and Paul Garner, and his grandchildren; Nyssa, Samantha and Alicia Schmidt, and Emma and Lucas Garner. His wife, Rita, predeceased him on September 4, 2009.

Born in 1920, Spike grew up on a farm on the vast plains of Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1940, he moved with his parents to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and served in the U.S. Army during WW II. Upon his return, Spike attended a school for tailoring and design in Chicago on the G.I. bill, where he met Rita Louise DesVeaux. They married and moved to Rochester, Minnesota in 1953, where they lived until they came to Laconia in 1970.

Spike will be remembered as an easygoing guy who was comfortable to be around. He took pleasure in all the little things during his day: his work, his conversations with friends and customers and his home projects. Spike kept busy with his tailoring, bird feeding and gardening, until his illness in August of this year. His contentment with life gave him an optimistic attitude and sense of humor that endeared him to all his caregivers at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. His courage at the end of his life only deepened the love his family has for him.

Merrill Thomas Garner will be remembered at St. Joseph Church, 30 Church St, Laconia NH, with a calling hour on Friday, December 18, 2009 from 9:30-10:30AM followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00AM.

Burial, with military honors, will follow at 2:30PM at the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery, 110 Daniel Webster Highway, Boscawen, N.H.

Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, N. H. is in charge of the arrangements.