A private graveside service will be held for Catherine E. (Katy) Merritt at Rose Hill Cemetery in Ardmore, Oklahoma with Woodrow Fletcher officiating.

Catherine E. Merritt (Katy) was born in Perry Oklahoma, the only girl born to Etta Adella and Robert Erle Hughes forging from a line of the original Oklahoma Sooners. Katy's mother was a schoolteacher. Her father worked a farm that appeared in Time Magazine during the Dust Bowl era. In 1944 the family relocated to Enid, where Father Erle worked as a field man with Continental grain. It was after that fateful move that Katy met the love of her life, Wayne Merritt. They married in June 1948 and had many adventures including living in Japan during the Korean war. Wayne and Katy moved to Ardmore in the early 1960s with their two young children, DiAn and Alan, and found their forever home on D street.

Katy was very active in First Baptist Church of Ardmore and served as a Sunday school teacher, among other volunteer positions there. She was long-time employee of the Carter County Election Board, from which she eventually retired. After retiring, she and Wayne traveled extensively on behalf of the Baptist Mission Board. Katy also very much appreciated the arts and used her formidable organizational skills to help organize the Annual Carter County Arts and Crafts festival at Hardy Murphy Coliseum. Katy will be missed by all who knew her.

Katy was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Wayne Merritt and brothers, Ben Hughes and Robert Hughes. She is survived by her children Alan Merritt and DiAn.

Online condolences can be made at www.craddockfuneralhome.