Doroty K. Merritt

Doroty Merritt-Kuhn, age 91, passed away April 3, 2020 in Bradenton, Florida. Born October 23, 1928 in the British colony of Rawalpindi, India to Emil and Emilie Kuhn, Doroty lived a full and meaningful life. Her parents were Swiss citizens that owned a confectionery in Rawalpindi. She was proud of her heritage and family that stretched across multiple continents and countries. Most importantly, she loved her family and they loved her.

As a child, Doroty was sent to live with relatives in Munich, Germany and was forced to grow-up quickly as the world entered World War II.  She was drafted at the age of 15 into the Red Cross where she tended to wounded soldiers. This began a lifelong love of caring for the sick. After the war, she attended and graduated from nursing school in Switzerland in 1951. Later, she met Charles Merritt an American G.I., fell in love, and was married in Basel, Switzerland in December 1956. Their journey together took them many places including France, Alaska, Georgia, and Kansas before finally making Charles' hometown of Bradenton the place to raise their family. She continued with her nursing career taking a special interest in geriatrics and practiced for many years in Bradenton. Doroty continued to give long after her nursing career ended by donating to the local community blood bank and caring for many friends and church members in need. She loved and adored her family always guiding us with a wise and gentle hand. She always had the right words to make you feel unique and special for everything you did no matter how big or small the accomplishment.

Maybe it was the many places she had seen or the influence of her adventurous, mountaineering father, but whatever the reason, Doroty loved anything and everything concerning nature and all of God’s creatures. She enjoyed her own pets throughout the years and generously donated to many animal organizations. She truly loved all creatures great and small and was genuinely concerned for their preservation, safety, and wellbeing. She was very concerned about conservation and recycled and repurposed everything! She enjoyed wildflowers, the grandeur of a forest, quiet walks in the rain, the warmth of a sunbeam, the peacefulness of a sunset, the majesty of the mountains, the hope a rainbow brings, the simple beauty of a butterfly and smiling happy daisies!

Always modest, Doroty had many hidden talents that she never boasted about. She was accomplished in knitting, crocheting, sewing, and needlepoint. She often designed many of her own projects. Most pieces were lovingly given away as gifts to family and friends. Doroty was also a self-taught and accomplished oil painter; painting many scenes of her beloved Switzerland which she missed so dearly.

Following in her Dad's footsteps as a confectioner, she loved baking cookies at Christmas for her family and friends and then taught herself to make beautiful and fun cakes. She made cakes for special occasions such as birthdays and even made her son and daughters’ wedding cakes! She was such a creative soul.

Doroty joined First United Methodist Church of Bradenton in 1967 and was an active member until the day she passed. She had an amazing and unwavering faith in the Lord, and she lived her life accordingly. She was, in every sense, a Christian. Not just a Sunday morning worshiper that quickly forgot the meaning of the sermon but someone who practiced and lived the meaning of Christianity every day of her life. She was a steadfast supporter of her church and had a tenacity for volunteering in just about every project at the church. She was jokingly nicknamed “The Little Church Mouse” because she was involved with most activities and knew just where everything was and where it belonged. One of her true loves was music and she sang in the church choir for over 50 years helping to organize and catalog music in the music library. She tended to the ironing, cleaning and mending of the choir robes. She was an active member of the Altar Guild organizing special ceremonies at the church. She especially loved decorating the church and the Chrismon tree at Christmas time with the many ornaments that she and her friends made throughout the years. It gave her great pleasure and joy seeing families together for the beauty of the candlelight services on Christmas Eve. She loved little children and helped with bible school crafts, she fed the poor and represented the church at the Soup Kitchen every Friday until her health made it impossible. She collected pennies for the penny pot, brought flowers to the sick, helped with church missions and so much more that it would be impossible to list everything that she was a part of.

Doroty was predeceased by her parents, husband Charles, and an older sister Heidi Niederhauser. She is survived by her children Michael (Candace) and Elizabeth (Donald), grandchildren Heather (Matthew), James (Christine), Brianna (Devon), Christopher (Karem), Deborah (Andrew), Katie, and Kristin (Evan), and 6 great grandchildren. She is also survived by her beloved sister Rosmary Durr, several nieces and nephews and extended family and dear friends in Switzerland, Germany, and Florida.

Sweet Doroty will be dearly missed, never forgotten, and remembered always for her many Gigi-isms! She was lovingly called “Gigi” by her grandchildren and many that knew her. There was never a kinder, gracious or more gentle soul than she. She was truly an Angel on earth and now in heaven watching, guiding, inspiring, protecting, and loving us one and all. In Doroty's own written words from her memoir, “My journey through life; lived, endured, survived, enjoyed, and loved it!”

Thank you everyone for being a part of Doroty’s life. You were truly the colorful threads of the finely woven tapestry that was her life. God Bless you all.

A memorial service will be held for family and friends at a later date at First United Methodist Church in Bradenton, Florida. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Tidewell Hospice, Bishop Animal Shelter or First United Methodist Church.

With kindest regards,

Doroty’s Family

One more thing! You should indulge and enjoy some decadent Swiss chocolate in her memory! Few things gave her more pleasure than giving out chocolate that was hand-picked and delivered directly from her sister in Switzerland. We got some yesterday!