Merrill Barton Thompson, 84, of Moscow Mills, MO, passed away on Saturday, January 6, 2024 at Progress West Hospital in O'Fallon, MO. He was born on July 3, 1939 in Perham, Minnesota to Murphy and Helen (Wanderi) Thompson. Merrill and Mary Lee (Johnson) met while he was giving her accordion lessons. They were later married on August 30, 1958 in St. Louis County, Minnesota. To this union were born their children Kelly, Kay, Mark, Mary Beth.

Merrill was a hard worker and had many interesting skills and occupations including music teacher (Virginia MN), construction worker (Aurora MN), railroad telegrapher (MN - WI), gas station attendant (Biwabik MN), hardware store clerk (Virginia MN). Then the family moved to Kenosha, WI in 1963 where Merrill worked as an automobile assembly line worker for American Motors (Kenosha WI), locksmith (Racine WI), auto insurance claims adjuster (Kenosha WI). In 1973 they moved to Florissant, MO because Merrill was promoted to claims salvage supervisor (St. Louis MO), hardware store clerk Ace Hardware (Florissant MO), funeral home greeter (Florissant MO), and he worked for Jani King, and then started his own cleaning and window washing business called 'Unique Cleaning' (Florissant MO) prior to retiring to Moscow Mills, MO in 2011. Merrill was a handyman and enjoyed working on projects and finding creative ways to build and fix things. Many people would love to come to his garage and admire the various eclectic gadgets he created. He often helped his neighbors with projects and enjoyed educating people on how things worked and how to use tools. Some of his hobbies included playing the accordion, listening to Polka music, and he had his own polka band called 'The Playmates' in Kenosha WI. He also spent spare time metal detecting at local parks and schools; he had quite a collection of trusty treasures he found throughout the years. He liked watching old Westerns and could often be found on the couch on a Sunday afternoon 'resting his eyes' during some of those Westerns. He loved dogs and enjoyed giving out treats to the furry friends around the neighborhood. Merrill enjoyed his family and friends stopping by to visit and would joke about it being like grand central station some days.

He is survived by his wife Mary Lee Thompson of Moscow Mills, MO, children Kelly (Christine) Thompson of Ferguson, MO, Kay Thompson-Mahon (Terry) of Imperial, MO, Mark (Terry) Thompson of New Melle, MO, Mary Beth (Larry) O'Gorman of Wentzville, MO and Merrill's son Dave Karki of Biwabik, MN; nine grandchildren Mandy, Aaron, Ryan, Shaun, Christopher, Sara, Heather, Michael and Bryan; 12 great-grandchildren; two sisters Carol (Marshall) Tynjala of Aurora, MN and Gail Ford of Racine, WI; and many other relatives and friends.

Merrill was preceded in death by his parents Murphy and Helen (Wanderi) Thompson.

Memorial Service will be held on Saturday April 13, 2024 at 1:00 at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses 1451 S Main Street, Troy, MO 63379

Family and Friends may sign the online guest book @www.mccoyblossomfh.com