Obituary of Francis Merkt

Francis D. Merkt III COLUMBIA - The funeral service for LTC (RET) Francis Desales Merkt, III will be held on Friday, August 17, 2012 at 11:30 a.m., in the Chapel of Greenlawn Funeral Home with full military honors and interment to follow in Greenlawn Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 10:30 a.m. until the hour of the service on Friday at the funeral home. The Merkt family has entrusted Greenlawn Funeral Home with the arrangements. Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Francis Desales Merkt III passed away on Saturday, August 11, 2012, at Palmetto Health Richland Hospital. He was born in Long Beach, CA, on September 23, 1936, the son of the late Francis and Emma Merkt. LTC (retired) Francis, "Frank", was an athlete, a hard worker and a gracious man. He honorably served his country for twenty four years as an Infantry and Special Forces officer of the US Army, serving three tours in Vietnam. He retired from Ft. Jackson in 1986. In his youth he earned a football scholarship and played for and graduated from the University of Oklahoma. During his college years he worked as a "roughneck" on the Oklahoma oil fields. After his army career he was employed for seven years at the Owen Steel Company in Columbia. Frank was a loving husband, a nurturing father, a clever handy man, and a companionate friend. He was preceded by his loving wife, Kathryn Merkt, whom he has greatly missed. Surviving are: his son, Carl R Merkt (Col. Ret.) and his wife Kathy Merkt, of Clarksville, TN; his brother and sister-in-law Mike and Meg Merkt of Carlsbad, CA, his aunt Betty A. McGuire of Middletown, OH; three grown grandchildren, Cindy Thornton of Nashville, TN, Krissy Franks, of Murfreesboro, TN and Carl B Merkt of Katy, TX and their spouses, and four great-grandchildren, Brittany, Cole, Kaitlynn, and Owen: a niece, Jessamyn Stidham of Lake Dallas, TX. Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society , 128 Stonemark Lane, Columbia, SC 29210 or The National Kidney Foundation of SC, 508 Hampton Street, Suite 200, Columbia, SC 29201, or the Wounded Warrior Project, 4899 Belfort Road, Suite 300, Jacksonville, Florida, 32256, or Operation Homefront, 8930 Fourwinds Drive, Suite 340, San Antonio, Texas, 78239 in Francis' memory.