William Alfred Merrick died on December 27, 2024, at the age of 97. Bill was born on August 24, 1927, in Santa Ana, California. His parents were Joseph A. and Grace (Leech) Merrick.
He and his brother Jerry grew up in many towns as his father’s job developing markets for the Standard Oil Company necessitated frequent moves to new places. He graduated from high school in North Platte, Nebraska after serving in the Navy in World War II. He was only 17 when he joined the Navy. He went to Grinnell College and the University of Colorado on the GI Bill and graduated with a Batchelor of Science degree in Marketing. He was managing Merrick Oil in North Platte when he met and married Mary Lou Dickerson in 1954, after dating her by flying his airplane to pick her up in farm fields in Nebraska. He entered the radio business the same year in Monte Vista, Colorado.
Bill and Mary raised three children, Sam, Sally (Bolic) and Scott. He had three granddaughters: Mandy (Scott and Holly Merrick), Abby (Sally and Andy Bolic) and Chandler, (Sam and Kendall Merrick). They will always remember his tenacious approach to life and all the adventures with the family, like the bear in Yellowstone heading for their picnic. (He packed up the car with everyone and was gone in moments)! He was steady, thoughtful and in control always. He played a significant role with Mary in raising the children, teaching them skills, experiencing the world’s essence, being present yet giving them freedom to determine their own destiny.
Bill came to Bozeman from radio station KLSV in Monte Vista, Co., where he managed the station. He owned and managed KBMN in Bozeman for 19 years and was a partner in two other Montana radio stations. He continued his focus on broadcasting management by attending Harvard Business School of Management and Advanced Management seminars for broadcasters. He taught in the film and TV department at Montana State University for three years.
He served for 28 years on the Gallatin Field Airport Authority, acting as chairman for Bozeman’s first North – South Airline service (Frontier Airlines). He was chairman during the construction of the Bozeman Airport Terminal and was actively involved with conceptual design of the building to reflect the beauty of nature in the valley.
Bill was President of the Bozeman Kiwanis Club, Vice President of the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Bozeman Symphony, member of the Montana Aeronautics Commission board of directors, Director of the National Association of Broadcasters, President of the Montana Broadcasters Association. He was a paid lobbyist for the Montana Broadcaster Association in the 1979 legislature. He was an enthusiastic member of the Bozeman QK club.
While serving two terms on the Bridger Bowl Board of directors, he conceived of and activated the Bridger Beacon, atop the Baxter Hotel in Bozeman, to announce powder days on the mountain. He was also one of the first ambassadors at the ski hill to help skiers coming to the mountain for their first visits.
After retirement from broadcasting, he worked as a ski instructor at Bridger Bowl, continued to fly and earned a commercial pilots license for both powered aircraft and gliders. He loved the outdoors and spent time in the woods hiking, on tennis courts, on lakes and oceans canoeing and sailing, flying, and tending to his garden with Mary at their Salad Fork property, on the East Gallatin River.
Bill came to Bozeman when it was a small town known more for its extreme weather than its beauty couched in the mountains and big sky. He helped it grow through his life and made it a special place for more to enjoy and be amazed by its closeness to heaven.
The success of the KBMN radio station was due to Bill’s optimistic attitude and ability to make friends with almost everyone he met. He not only managed the station but was its number one salesperson, making every businessperson in Bozeman and surrounding communities feel like he was working for them. He was also a radio personality with his morning broadcast of “Day by Day Philosophy”. He cared about his community, his family, and friends. He was compassionate to the needs of others and offered many a helping hand. He was also a character, sometimes a flamboyant dresser usually with a good joke to share. He touched all who knew him as a kind, generous and hearty man who looked for the good in everything throughout his long life. He was never nervous, although many friends joked with him that KBMN stood for “Keep Bill Merrick Nervous.”
He is survived by his three children, three granddaughters and four great grandchildren: Ramsey Noa, and William Peabody (Brandley and Chandler Peabody) and Leighton Lange (daughter of Mandy Merrick and Tyler Lange) born on New Year’s Eve after his passing. He was preceded in death by his wife of 54 years Mary; his father Joseph and Mother Grace.
He loved the Museum of the Rockies and the Bozeman Public Library and suggested memorial gifts be donated to these institutions.
No services are planned at this time.
Arrangements are in the care of Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service. www.dokkennelson.com
