Merle Waverly Dameron was born in Wellington, Kansas on Jan 27th, 1924, to Anson Boyd Dameron and May Viola (Rhodes) Dameron who were married in Sumner County, Kansas on March 12th,1912.  Merle was the youngest of 4 siblings that included Virgil, Charlie, and Clara (Wray).

Merle died on Jan 2nd, 2023, in Ashburn, Virginia. He is survived by his children and preceded in death by his wife, Pauli, who passed away on September 9th, 2021, after 69 years of marriage.  Merle married Audrey E. (Tharp) on July 31st, 1943. They had 2 children: Dennis Allen Dameron (Fritch) and Deborah Ann (Vaughn) Dameron. They divorced in 1953. Merle married Pauline (Chisholm) Dameron on August 31st, 1953, in Anchorage, Alaska. They had 3 children: Gerald (Gerry) Scott Dameron, Laurie Susan (Marek) Dameron and Cynthia Ann (Kohlman) Dameron.

Merle and Pauli Dameron will be interred together at Arlington National Cemetery during a private ceremony on Wednesday, August 28th, 2024, with military honors and a bagpipe accompaniment to their final resting place in the Niche Wall.

In 1925, Merle's mother May Viola (Rhodes) Dameron died in Kansas. The remaining family moved to Canoga Park, California, buying a small orchard with money left to the children. Merle's father, Anson Boyd Dameron, married his second wife, Celeste (McCoy) (Williams) Dameron and 6 children were added to the family, totaling 13. The added children were: Anson Laroy Dameron, Clella Jewel (Pascal) Dameron, Jerry Boyd Dameron, Kenneth Lee Dameron, Sonja Faye Dameron and Vina Celeste (Cink) Dameron.

On November 4th, 1942, at age 18, Merle enlisted, joining his brothers, Virgil and Neil, in voluntary military service.  In the Army Air Corps, Merle earned his pilot's license, graduating as one of the top-ranked air cadets in his class of 100 new pilots. He served stateside in California and Texas as a flight instructor during WW2 before serving during the Korean War where he flew reconnaissance missions over North Korean territories in a single engine Navion, a design in the lineage of the North American P-51 Mustang fighter plane. Merle earned the rank of lieutenant and was rated in single-engine and twin-engine aircraft but recounted flying multi-engine flights on cargo planes that often-carried USO entertainers and dignitaries. After the Korean conflict Merle was assigned to Alaska in the civil service for air traffic controller training. He and Pauli continued flying in small aircraft between Anchorage, Aniak, Fairbanks, and McGrath. They explored the Alaskan rivers, fishing from their Jon-Boat and interacting with their small Yak-hut-housed community for picnics and gatherings.  In 1958 they moved to Burlington, Vermont where Merle built the family home on the top of a six-acre mountain-top parcel in Old Essex Junction. In 1963, they moved to Dunn Loring, Virginia where Merle began air traffic controlling duties at the newly built Dulles International Airport which opened in 1964.

Merle and Pauli created a large and extensive chosen family from the community around them wherever they were. In Virginia they were very active socially, with a large community of friends with whom they shared fun activities for much of their adult lives. They enjoyed parties large and small, with music, dancing, good food, and abundant spirits. Bridge clubs, square dancing clubs, bowling leagues and kid play dates were common. They took most of their neighbor friends camping in convoys, (Wagon's Ho! was sung the rallying cry) complete with CB radios for inter-convoy communications. The number of participating families was so large that people in the campgrounds would often stop and ask us what organization we were associated with. Merle and Pauli were always an integral center of their community.

In 1969, the family moved to the newly built Wexford community in Vienna, Virginia, taking several neighborhood families with them. They served on boards of directors, coordinated the luminary displays at Christmas, parades on July 4th, as well as picnics and games on Memorial Day. They loved decorating for Halloween and Christmas and were always seeking to bring the neighborhood and community together.  Most afternoons, several neighbors would show up at the Dameron's for chit chat and happy hour around the kitchen table.

Merle retired from Air Traffic Controlling in 1975. He took some continuing education courses in auto mechanics and obtained his real estate license, but his true calling was as a carpenter in home construction, a trade he had learned from his first wife Audrey's father. Merle started a construction company that rarely required him to leave the neighborhood. He finished basements, built carports, sheds, additions, and decks until he retired entirely in 1986. He and Pauli toured the USA in their 28-foot Southwind motorhome visiting family, and State and National Parks where "Old Faithful took Old Faithful to Old Faithful" on their anniversary.

In 1975, Merle and Pauli bought Lot #123 in Key Largo Kampground and Marina and launched a 40-year lifestyle of Snow Birding in the Florida Keys, spending half of each year boating and partying with fellow Keys neighbors and residents. Merle was asked to supply the music for numerous community dances and potlucks. Being in Florida put them in proximity to "last minute cruise ship deals" that they took advantage of at least once a year with friends. Pauli and Merle logged 45+ cruises over the years.  The hurricane of 2015 destroyed their Key Largo park model ending their 40 years of pilgrimage to paradise. It was heartbreaking in its sudden finality. But, in the early 2000's they had sold the old Vienna-based family home and moved into a new home in the Potomac Green adults-only retirement community of Ashburn, Virginia where they continued their 50-plus year tradition of family reunions at the shore in Myrtle Beach, S.C., a streak that could only be broken by the great pandemic. Anchored to home, they lived out the remainder of their lives together, making new friends with caring home health aids (Thank you, Marisol Blaucud!) and enjoying frequent visits with their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

Merle was a philosophical man. He was deeply loyal, dependable, reliable, accomplished, thoughtful, and disciplined.  Merle had a love of reading and libraries, music and dancing, and he walked every day, until his wife died.  Merle's laugh was hearty and cheerful, but often with an impish tone, due to his innately playful personality. He was generous with his talents, of which there were many, while the air around him would often be punctuated by a beautifully whistled tune through which you could always find him, wherever he was. But he was a singer too ! and he could be heard singing the old romantic standards with a pure tone eerily reminiscent of Nat King Cole.
Our father, our friend, died peacefully among family at his home after a life well lived, 3 weeks from his 99th birthday.

Merle was a wonderful man.  He could rarely be mentioned without including the love of his life, Pauli.
They are truly missed and greatly loved by their children and grandchildren.
We await the day when we are all reunited again ~ on the other side of the great mystery.
Thank You Merle, Dad, Grandpa, and Great Grandpa.
Thank You Pauli, Mom, Grandma, and Great Grandma.
We Love You, Always.
Rest Always in Peace and Love.