Peter D. Merrill of Yarmouth, Maine (94 ) passed away April 22, 2024.

Born in January 1930, Peter was raised in Falmouth, Maine, the only child of Margaret and Clinton Merrill.

He loved the Maine outdoors and grew up sailing with his father on their Friendship sloop for long trips along the Maine coast. Later in life he had his own Pointer skiff and a lobster boat to continue coastal cruises.  He was also a prolific hiker throughout the state as well as a well traveled adventurer to Europe, South America and coastal Mexico.  His last big trip in his 80's, was to the Amazon river and the Andes mountains.  He often suggested that a 'walk in the woods' was the best remedy for young and old.

He enlisted in the Air Force in 1950 during the Korean War and was stationed in Texas and Arizona.

After the Air Force, he became a successful marketing executive in the heyday of Madison Ave. in NYC and later in Boston, MA.

Upon his return to Yarmouth, he opened a counseling service for people with addictions and finished his career investing in real estate.

His passion late in life, was watercolor painting and he became quite a successful and prolific artist. His commitment to the arts resulted in a long standing circle of friends with whom he cherished many enjoyable afternoons, painting in both studio and plein air adventures.  Almost always, Pete had a dog in his life —usually named 'Sam'.

Peter was a very independent character—a true Mainer whose life encompassed an amazing century of events. Like his contemporaries, his life began in the Depression, then seeing WWII ships in Casco Bay, taking transatlantic ocean liners, the subsequent wars, and social changes and all the amazing technological changes…he strived to keep up with it all, right to the end — he lived independently until his few remaining months.

He will be missed by the many who knew him for decades and some simply for weeks.

There will be an informal burial with military honors at 2pm Friday May 3, 2024 at Pine Grove Cemetery in Falmouth, ME