Merlin Griesert

Merl was a true Minnesotan - stoic and private, but also a Californian - a bit of a maverick, and not to be taken in by anyone's bullshit. He had strong principles, and when his high school principal tried to pull something shifty on him (long story), he actually punched him. The principal then told him he would make sure he never got a job, but Merl went on to college and got a degree in Architecture.

He entered the Army in 1959 and served in Korea. He then became a structural engineer in San Francisco and was involved in the engineering of some of the BART stations. His company sent him and the family to London to work on oil rigs in the North Sea so we all lived there for 3 years (with Bev and daughter Nina in Paris for the 3rd year, while he and daughter Julie stayed in London). He traveled a lot for work and would always bring back a trinkets from his travels, and stories about the customs in Japan or the fish in Norway. He traveled with the family too, with a memorable trip riding camels in Tunisia.

He valued his friends and loved a good fishing trip, a golf game, and a good glass of wine, and after a few glasses he would talk your ear off. He and Bev lived his last years together in Healdsburg, CA - wine country - a very appropriate place for someone who called himself a "wino."

He will be remembered for calling any container a bucket, challenging you to eat the eyeballs on the spicy Szechuan fish, telling it to you straight, and for being a stubborn, but gentle soul.

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