William Merchant

FALMOUTH - William (Bill) Merchant, 91, died peacefully on March 29, 2022 in Falmouth, Maine. We lost a beloved husband, father, grandfather, uncle and friend. Raised in Andover, Massachusetts, he was the son of Ethel Malloy of Galway, Ireland and William Merchant of Brighton, Massachusetts. Bill graduated from Phillips Academy Andover High School in 1948, working summers and weekends with his brother as a caddy for the local country club. His great love for playing and watching golf never diminished. He attended Holy Cross on an ROTC scholarship and served 3 years on active duty with U.S. Navy during the Korean War and another 12 years in the Naval Reserves. When Bill returned home after the war, he earned an MBA at the University of Michigan on the GI Bill (1956). He met his wife Jane (Hubbell) at the VFW in Ann Arbor while they were both graduate students. A year after their first date, they married in Detroit (1956). Bill and Jane celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on November 3, 2021. Bill had successful careers with General Electric and GTE Sylvania where he developed lifelong friendships. At GE he ultimately ran the International Lamp Division with responsibility for Asia, the Americas, Europe and Turkey. He retired in 1993 from GTE Sylvania as Vice President and Manager of their International Division. When their children were young, Bill and Jane started vacationing on Drakes Island in Wells, ME and eventually built a vacation home there. In the 1990s, Bill co-founded Save Our Shores, a grassroots, volunteer organization established to preserve Maine's coastal heritage. Bill loved reading, especially history. He loved children (especially babies) and lobster and waltzing at weddings. He loved Irish music and singing "Danny Boy' in a fine tenor voice. And he loved Jane. Over the course of his life, while his travels made him a citizen of the world, he always felt that his greatest accomplishment was his family. Bill is survived by his loving wife Jane Merchant and their five children: Pamela Merchant and her partner Kirby Sack; Lisa Merchant and her husband John Shoos; Cav Merchant and his wife Sunshine Lawley; Mary Foley and her husband Robert Foley; and Kate Snyder and her husband Colin Snyder. He is also survived by nine wonderful grandchildren (Ryan, Connor, Quinn, Haley, William, Jesse, Isabella, Benjamin and Evan) and many nieces, nephews and dear friends. A celebration of Bill's life will be held this summer. Arrangements are under the direction of the Conroy-Tully Walker Funeral Home of Portland.