William Charles Merriman was born on November 1st, 1985 in Orlando, Florida to Amanda G. and Stephen C. Merriman. He grew up in Winter Park, Florida, St. Charles, Missouri and Allen, Texas. William passed away at about 2:30 AM on Saturday, September 13th, 2014 in a single car accident, in Allen, Texas.
William enjoyed many sports from an early age. He was a little league baseball player, (catcher and pitcher), a fearless soccer goalie and an exuberant ice hockey player. As a boy, he was active in Cub Scouts and had served as an acolyte in his church. As a teenager, he was an enthusiastic golfer and a wild man on a snowboard in the mountains of Utah. As an adult, he experienced great delight in zooming through the undulations of skate parks on several continents, where he enjoyed the excitement of speed and freedom from gravity that it gave him.
His education was honed at every level in Allen schools, at Transylvania University in Kentucky, Collin College in Plano and the Art Institute of Dallas.
Wil’s passion for the art of photography was pursued with gusto and an unorthodox eye. He loved nothing more than scouting out interesting sites, views and angles in downtown Dallas. In the last few years, he had taken up expressing himself through boldly colored abstract painting.
William thrived on bringing humor and merriment to any situation, or company he found himself in, and loved to be surrounded by family and friends alike.
Like the mythical Icarus, he often flew too close to the sun, but lived life at his own pace, and to the tempo of his own heart.
He is survived by his parents, Amanda and Stephen Merriman, older brother James and younger brother Ian, Aunt Nancy Austin, cousins, Christine Blackmon and Angela Wellein, and Uncle Mark Greenwood.
Wil’s effervescent spirit and enthusiastic zest for life, together with his enduring love of family and friends, will leave all who really knew him rejoicing, in having been a part of his short but fun-loving life.
A memorial service will be held at 4:00 p.m., on Sunday, September 28, 2014 at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Chapel in Allen, Texas.