Obituaries - April 20, 1997
William Deming Merrick of Ventura, an electrical engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena who developed a global network of antennas used to explore deep space, died Friday at a local hospital. He was 79.
Merrick was born Nov. 6, 1917, in San Francisco. He spent his early years in Fresno and attended schools in Glendale. He graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from California Institute of Technology in Pasadena in 1939.
Merrick worked at the JPL for more than 30 years. He is best-known for his key role in developing the Deep Space Network of antennas for NASA. The network can pick up and monitor signals from deep space vehicles.
The network’s largest antenna, 230 feet in diameter, is capable of tracking a spacecraft traveling more than 10 billion miles from Earth. Decades after its development, the network continues to play a key role in the exploration of deep space.
Merrick also participated in the Manhattan Project, as well as engineering projects in the fields of fiberoptic and microwave technology. He retired from the JPL in 1984.
He was a member of the Optical Society of Southern California, the Cal Tech Alumni Assn. Half-Century Club and Pickering’s Boys--the team of scientists that developed early satellites for the United States.
He led a team that received NASA’s Group Achievement Award in 1966 and was awarded the space agency’s Exceptional Service Medal in 1974.
Merrick is survived by Evea, his wife of 54 years; two daughters, Beth Merrick of Bozeman, Mont., and Nancy Lairmore of Ventura; a sister, Thelma Warren of Bend, Ore.; and two grandchildren.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park, Ventura. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to Project Understanding, 43 E. Vince St., Ventura 93001.
