Obituaries : Paul Merryman; Dry-Cleaning Businessman

Ventura resident Paul B. Merryman died Thursday after a brief illness. He was 74.

Merryman was born Sept. 20, 1923, in Hugo, Okla. He moved with his father to Point Richmond, Calif., in 1942 so they could work together at a shipyard, said Merryman’s brother, Samuel, of Ventura.

Merryman moved to Ventura in 1945 and was in the dry-cleaning business for 52 years. He and his late brother, Ezra Merryman Jr., were partners in College Square Cleaners in Ventura.

Samuel Merryman said his brother became interested in the dry-cleaning business after working in the laundry department at Bacone College in Oklahoma to earn tuition. Merryman later returned to the college to teach Native American history classes.

The Merryman family’s ancestors included members of the Choctaw tribe, his brother said.

“He was very interested in Indian culture,” Samuel Merryman said.

Merryman was involved for many years in the California Indian Education Center and had served as its executive director. He was a life member of the Kiwanis International Downtown Ventura Club and served as lieutenant governor of the Kiwanis’ Division 42 of California, Nevada and Hawaii between 1981 and 1982.

Merryman was a member of the First Baptist Church of Ventura and active in the church’s men’s fellowship. He also was a member of the Ventura Retired Professional and Business Men’s Club.

In addition to his brother, Merryman is survived by two sons, Richard of Clarkston, Mich., and David of Abilene, Texas; a sister, Hazel Dean Merryman of Ventura; four grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

Visitation is planned from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Ted Mayr Funeral Home, Ventura.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at the First Baptist Church of Ventura with the Rev. Donald Loomer officiating. Burial will follow at Ivy Memorial Lawn Park in Ventura.

Memorial contributions can be made to the California Indian Education Center in Ventura.