Joyce A. Merrell

Hobart, Indiana

Joyce A. Merrell, age 86, a longtime resident of Hobart, passed away on Friday, January 20, 2012. She was born on January 7, 1926, in Medaryville, Indiana, the daughter of Clarence and Ruth Shedrow. Joyce was married to Frank J. Merrell on October 26, 1946 in Michigan City, Indiana. She was a member of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Portage. She was a Past Matron of the Hobart Eastern Star # 314. She enjoyed making monk-cloth afghans and being with her family.

Joyce is survived by her loving family; sons John (Joyce) Merrell, Portage, and James (Christine) Merrell, Valparaiso, daughter Karen (Tom) Harmon, Hobart, grandchildren Jeffrey Merrell, Christine Gould, and Richard Raymond, step-grandchild Manny Ortiz, great-grandchildren Andrea, James, and Nathan, brothers Chet Shedrow, Hobart, and Don Shedrow, Charlotte, North Carolina, sister Betty Merrell, Bradenton, Florida, sister-in-law Nora Alice Eskridge, Knox, numerous nieces and nephews, and other loving family and dear friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Frank Merrell, and her brother Fred Shedrow.

A visitation for Joyce Merrell will be held from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at Rees Funeral Home – Hobart Chapel, 600 West Old Ridge Road, Hobart. A funeral service will be held at 11:00 am on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at Evangelical Covenant Church of Portage, 5051 Central Avenue, Portage, with Pastor Summit Sen, officiating. Private family burial will be at Chapel Lawn Cemetery in Schererville. For further information please call Rees Funeral Home at (219) 942-2109 or online at www.reesfuneralhomes.com.