Raymond Merkus

Remembering Ray

It is with sadness that we, the family of Ray Merkus, announce the passing of our Husband, Father and Grandfather and Great Grandfather.  He peacefully left his life on earth on July 3, 2026 at the age of 88.

Ray was born June 21, 1938 in Marrum, Friesland, The Netherlands.  He was the 3rd child born to Jim & Elizabeth Merkus.  He is survived by his wife, Eleanor; three children, Clark, Crystal (René) Hoekstra, Glen (Bernie) Merkus; nine grandchildren and their partners; and eleven great grandchildren.  He is predeceased by his parents; and one daughter-in-law, Vicki.

He immigrated to Canada with his parents and siblings in 1948, they made their way across Canada by train & bus to end up in Neerlandia, where he attended school until age 16.  He and some friends left for Edmonton where he worked in a variety of different fields but regularly returned to play hockey and attend young peoples. 

It was then that he met the love of his life Eleanor Nanninga and they were married on Feb 18, 1961.  They stayed close to Neerlandia for a while but soon wanted to get out on their own.  They moved to Grande Prairie with two small children and began working for Canadian Forest Products.  But Dad had a dream of owning his own farm and soon found one, first in Blueberry Mountain, near Spirit River where their 3rd child was born.  Then soon after they bought a small farm near Sexsmith, Alberta where they could settle down and their children could go to school.

Working hard on two farms and other jobs in the winters, he carved out a life.  Through all these busy years they always took time for camping and outings with the children and friends.  It wasn’t long after they packed up the family and off to Lacombe they went, where they bought and ran a mobile home park for six years.  Then he still wasn’t finished farming and moved back to Neerlandia in 1982 to buy another farm and built a mobile seed cleaning plant with his eldest son.  Then to another farm in Westlock where he helped his daughter and son-in-law to set up a dairy farm.  When they took over, he moved again to a 3rd farm on the Pembina River near Dapp, Alberta and had fun raising sheep for a short time.

During the winters of those ten years of farming, Ray and Eleanor would volunteer for Wycliffe Bible Translators and Jaars mainly in North Carolina, but spent one winter in Peru, volunteering again with Wycliffe.

Their final business was owning the Grey Goose Motel in Castor, Alberta.  Then one final move where they spent the last 27 years in Lacombe. Ray enthusiastically served with Gideons International for about 10 years spreading the word of God through this ministry. Recently they moved into the Lacombe Seniors Lodge where Eleanor now resides.

Ray always believed his days and times were ordered and numbered by God and he has passed that torch to his family.  Ray will be dearly missed by family, friends and those lives he touched.

A Graveside Service will take place on Thursday July 09, 2026 at 2:00 pm at the Neerlandia Cemetery in Neerlandia, Alberta.

A Funeral Service will take place on Friday July 10, 2026 at 2:00 pm at the Bethel Christian Reformed Church in Lacombe, Alberta. 

Livestreaming of the service can be found with the following link: https://www.youtube.com/@bethelcrclacombe9772

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