Myrtle M Van Merkestyn

Myrtle Minnie Van Merkestyn passed on Thursday, Novemer 14, 2019.  She was 98 years old.  The daughter of Joe McGowin and Minnie Belle Coon, she was born on January 16, 1921, in Teddy, Alabama.

Myrt graduated high school in 1940 at Andalusia High School and attended business college in Mobile, Alabama.  She then worked at Alger Sullivan Lumber Company in Century, Florida, where she met her future husband, James Mason Van Merkestyn..  They were married in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on July 25, 1944, where James was in training with the Army Air Corps.

She has been a resident of Ft. Walton Beach since 1970 and a member of St. Mary Parish and the League of Mary auxiliary.  Her favorite activity was crocheting, especially rag rugs.

She is preceded in death by her husband and survived by her daughter, Martha Hartley, her son William Van Merkestyn; granddaughter Catherine Hartley, grandsons John Hartley and Patrick Hartley, great granddaughter Noelani Hartley, niece and nephew Donna and Coy Register, and great niece Erica Nelson.

Special thank yous to the lovely ladies of St. Mary Church who provided visitations and communion in her last years also to the staff at Destin Rehabilitation and Healthcare.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Emerald Coast Funeral Home.

Internment will be at Crary Cemetery in Century, Florida in December.

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