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Merrill K. Douglass

Merrill K. Douglass, 104, Woodstock, died Monday, March 16, 2015, at his home in Woodstock.

He was born July 22, 1910, to Edwin and Emma (Boughton) Douglass in Hebron Township.  

On Oct. 8, 1936, he married Delia Riemer in Woodstock.

He was a dairy farmer, farming with his father from 1933 until going on his own in 1945. He worked his own farms in the Greenwood and Woodstock areas until 1958.  He did custodial work for Woodstock High School and then Dean Street School until retiring in 1975.  He was instrumental in the creation of School District 10, which encompassed rural schools in the Woodstock area.  After his retirement, he traveled extensively visiting family and friends. His travels took him to each of the 50 states, and then he settled in Walworth, Wis., for many years, returning to Woodstock in 1994.

Survivors include six children, Delbert Douglass (Marilyn Payne), Elgin, Frederick (Elizabeth) Douglass, East Troy, Wis., Janet (Jonathon) Douglass-Davis, Woodstock, John (Mary) Douglass, Houston, Rosemary (Barney) Alewine, West Columbia, S.C., and Richard (Jill) Douglass, Santa Fe, N.M.;  22 grandchildren, Valerie (Brian) Berryhill, Joyce Prickett, Donna Everett, Jerome (Sharon) Freund, Brenda Hills, Teri (Bruce) Marks, Michael (Claire) Douglass, Eileen Foreman, Daniel Douglass, Donna Lonza, Andrew (Kristen) Douglass, Jennifer Douglass, Michele Aavang (Ron Behrens), Catherine (Arlyn) Roush, Robert Aavang (Matthew Cieniewski), Thomas Douglass, Patrick Douglass, Ruth (Josh) Burt, Robin (Joseph) Schultz, Randall Alewine, Benjamin Douglass and Kyle Douglass; four step-grandchildren, David Davis (Julie Casey), Matthew Davis, Brandon (Stacy) Davis and Michelle (Jason) Deliso; 44 great-grandchildren; 13 great-great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife; a daughter, Ruth Freund; a grandson, Thomas Freund; three brothers, Leslie, Eugene and Glenn; and three sisters, Ethelin, Lorraine and Elva Jane. 

Services for the family were held March 19 in Woodstock.

Memorials can be made to the McHenry County 4-H Youth Foundation or the Hebron Methodist Church.

Arrangements were made by Schneider-Leucht-Merwin & Cooney Funeral Home.

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