Rest in peace Kristen Merrill. Kristen was one of my best and funnest clients back in the studio days. Below is the obituary, because they obituary sites are slime bags and charge money to keep the piece up for more than a few days. I’m not sure why they chose such terrible quality photos of Kristen. I’m sure they have plenty good ones to choose from…
Kristen Maier Merrill Lewis Dalton (Byla Saliva)
Oct. 5, 1951~Nov. 21, 2011
Kristen Merrill, who could recite Lord Buckley and Tom Lehrer, belt out rock ‘n roll, write perfect parody, melt you with a smile or a snide remark; she-of-the-smart brain and the smarter mouth, who loved to party, who brought such wit to life, died and left all who knew her with an empty space in their hearts, but grateful to have shared her singular life.
The nut didn’t fall far from the tree. Her father, Charles Smith Merrill, was an eccentric entrepreneur. Her mother, Marion (Ronnie) Merrill, was a beauty and a celebrated wit. Kristen remained close to her mother through her high school years in Oakland, and through the years the two of them rented out apartments in their sprawling Millcreek mansion. Some of Utah’s most remarkable characters rented from Ronnie and Kristen, although none were as remarkable as they.
Kristen could sing. Aficionados will remember Rowboat, Steamboat, the Bel Aires, the Kristen Merrill band, and the group that was most like her, the Saliva Sisters. For thirty years, she was the wit, the provocateur and the booming, velvety voice of Utah’s most irreverent trio. She boldly took them where no girl group had gone before.
Kristen was interested in stuff, especially bugs and plants, and seemed to know something about everything. She held court at parties. She charmed strangers in bars. She was the funniest person in the room. She was the perfect eccentric aunt to her friends’ children. There were chickens in her yard. She should have written a book. She shouldn’t have died so young.
She is survived by her husband, Guy Dalton, who loved her deeply; her stepchildren, Nick, Aujelle, Anthony and Amanda Dalton; her half-sister, Nance (Steve) Kohlert, her brother, Mark (Linda) Merrill. She is preceded in death by her first husband, Kevin Lewis, her mother, Marion Merrill and her father, Charles S. Merrill, her half-siblings Mary Lou Lundquist and Richard and John Merrill.
Remembrances can be posted on Face book at the Kristen Merrill Tribute Page. You can also learn how to help defray costs of the service. Thanks.
A gathering to celebrate her life will be held Sunday, December 4, 5:00 – 8:00 at Pierpont Place, 163 West Pierpont Avenue (240 South). Service at 5:30. Open mike. Cash bar. In lieu of flowers, tell a joke. And, Kristen, we didn’t love you or nothin’
It was great to bash the skins, though my chops weren’t quite what they would normally be.