Derwin Crockett Merrill

North Logan, Utah – Derwin Crockett Merrill, 85, passed away peacefully Saturday, June 29, 2019. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend. He is the third son of Casper and Anna Merrill. He married his sweetheart, Luana Packer of North Logan, in the Logan Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on June 1, 1956. They recently celebrated 63 joyful years of marriage together.
Derwin was born and raised in Richmond, Utah near the land where the Fat Boy Ice Cream factory is now located. As a boy, he made ice cream with his father and brothers. One day, he found an old car on the hillside adjacent to their home and spent many hours taking it apart and putting it back together. His mother, Anna, soon began calling Derwin “her little engineer”. When Derwin was 12 years old, the family moved the ice cream business to Logan. He attended Logan Junior High School and painted a mural on the school’s wall that remained until the wall was destroyed in the 1962 earthquake. While attending Logan High School, Derwin became an expert marksman in the Army ROTC and was an outstanding tennis player.
During his college years, he and Luana had unique dates at the Institute during Lambda Delta Sigma Activities. He also continued his participation in the Army ROTC. Derwin graduated with both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Civil Engineering from Utah State University. Following his university studies, Derwin was commissioned in the United States Army. His first assignment was Company Commander in the Engineering Battalion at Ft. Dix, New Jersey. He also served at Camp Drum, New York supervising the building of roads and bridges. While at Ft. Dix, he also served as the first branch president.
Following his military service, Derwin moved his family to Ames, Iowa, where he became an Instructor in the Iowa State University Civil Engineering Department. While teaching, Derwin also pursued and was presented with a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering. Derwin loved playing racquetball, and he became the Iowa State University racquetball champion, defeating students and faculty alike. He was asked to represent the College of Engineering on the university’s governing council. Derwin served the church in Iowa as a counselor in the district presidency and later as a counselor in the stake presidency for a period totaling eleven years.
In 1978, Derwin returned to Cache Valley with his family. He offered to help his father design equipment and build a new Ice Cream plant in Richmond, Utah. Derwin, his father and other family members built new freezing tunnels that were hundreds of feet long with stainless steel belts that carried the Ice Cream product. Derwin loved learning, and even though he had a Doctor’s Degree, he took courses in accounting and ice cream manufacturing to help Casper’s Ice Cream company grow and thrive. He introduced computers and modern manufacturing practices into the company as well as hygiene and health processes and a retirement program for the full-time employees. Derwin was not afraid to get his hands dirty, and he often worked alongside any employee that needed help, whether it was working on the compressors, the backhoe, the forklift, the manufacturing line, or in the office. The ice cream company remains a very successful local family business in its third generation of family ownership.
While in Richmond, Derwin served as Richmond City Mayor, and as president of the Cache Mayor’s Association. He also received the assignment to be on the District Court on the grand jury and was voted as the foreperson. He was the first bishop of the Richmond Fourth Ward. He also served on the High Council in the Richmond Utah Stake. He later served as Stake Patriarch in both the Richmond and the Smithfield Stakes.
Derwin’s testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ began as a young boy through some special spiritual experiences. He loved missionary work and was privileged to wear a missionary name tag during eight different periods of his life: first as a young man, then as a member of the Cache Stake Mission Presidency, as the District Mission President in Iowa, and as the Stake Mission President in the Richmond, Utah Stake. He and Luana also served four “couples” missions. The first was in the Singapore Mission where they served in East Malaysia on the Island of Borneo; Lahore, Pakistan for nine months, and in Petaling Jaya, West Malaysia. Their second couples’ mission was to Myanmar, which was formerly known as Burma. In Myanmar, they taught English, and Derwin supervised numerous humanitarian projects. Their third mission was to Mongolia where in addition to teaching English to Ulaanbaatar city officials and employees Derwin supervised humanitarian water wells so that the people had clean, fresh water without walking long distances. He also served as a counselor to the Mission President, assisting with leadership training. Their fourth mission was to the Logan Family History Center first as Temple and Family History Missionaries. Derwin taught classes and was ultimately called as an associate director, where he chaired the annual family history conferences.
Derwin is survived by his loving wife, Luana Merrill, and by their seven children: Ralph Merrill (Diane), Smithfield, Utah; Janette Kelly (Brent), Hyde Park, Utah; Keith Merrill (Lotti), Logan, Utah; Linda Rands (Steve), Cary, Illinois; Paul Merrill (Stephanie), Smithfield, Utah; Kevin Merrill, Glendora, California; and Kyle Merrill (Tasha), Chuckey, Tennessee. Derwin and Luana have 33 grandchildren and 34 great grandchildren with three additional “greats” on the way. He is also survived by his brother George Merrill (Pat), Layton, Utah. Derwin was preceded in death by his parents and two sets of twin brothers, Richard and Ronald and Douglas and Marcus.
The entire Merrill family wishes to express our profound gratitude to the nurses and staff at Maple Springs, North Logan and to Integrity Home Care and Hospice, who took such good care of our loving Derwin during his final hours here on Earth.
Funeral services will be held at 12:00 noon on Saturday, July 6, 2019 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located at 2540 North 400 East, North Logan conducted by Bishop Brian Cox. Viewings will be held on Friday, July 5, 2019 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Nelson Funeral Home, 162 East 400 North, Logan, Utah. A second viewing will be held at the church prior to the funeral service from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. Military rites and interment will be in the Richmond City Cemetery. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.allenmortuaries.net .