Robert Wilbur Merritt was born on December 10, 1940, in Leesburg, Florida, to Butler Jefferson and Eula Mae Merritt. As a child, he worked very hard on the farm. He could always make his mother laugh. Once, she sent him to pick a switch off the peach tree to swat him; he brought a tree limb into the kitchen. Once he had earned a paddling, he took a jar of peanut butter, crawled under the house with the jar and spoon, and wouldn’t come out. It took a water hose to move him. He wrote to his mother almost every week from when he left home until she passed.
After HS, he attended Nashville Auto Diesel College. His nature was always to be thorough and precise. It seemed he could always fix anything. He joined the AF in March 1963, attending a year of Radar & Radio school. He served as a technician on a microwave communications tower on a mountain in Germany for 3 years. Afterward, he attended Pensacola Jr. College and the University of West Florida, graduating with a system science degree with an emphasis on Science, not Business. He was hired at Eglin AFB as a permanent DOD civilian employee, where he served for 35 years.
His largest projects were as primary analyst on the A10 Warthog’s Gau 8 gatling gun and software branch chief on the 11 ft Advanced Medium Air to Air Missile, traveling on the Missile project to Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Rome, Australia twice, and England 6 times–all in 2 years. He worked on other projects, some top secret. He supported Billie in completing her college plans, even though it meant 8 hours away for law school. He and Billie celebrated their 50th anniversary on November 28, 2025. Robert could grow anything; for years, he did bonsai. There is a good tomato crop now. He loved his little dogs so much; 14 y.o. Lola misses him now.
He passed on May 29, 2026, and is survived by his wife, Billie Merritt, sister, Kitty Ticson; her children, Mary, Rebecca, and Joseph; and his nephews, John, Paul, and Steve Merritt.
A funeral service in his honor will be held at Faith Independent Baptist Church on Friday, June 5, at 10:00 a.m. in Niceville, Florida. He will be laid to rest at Crowder Cemetery in Mossy Head, Florida, with military honors rendered following the funeral.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a charitable contribution to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Please continue to give the family your support and encouragement during their time of healing.