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James "Jim" Merritt
February 15, 1941 - November 10, 2016
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<div itemprop="description">A visitation will be held on Sunday, November 27 at Atlantic Funeral Home, 125 Sackville Drive, Lower Sackville NS. From 2 until 4 pm and 7 to 9 pm. Please bring your stories. We will be celebrating his life. Interment will take place on Monday, November 28 at Oakridge Memory Gardens, Old Sackville Road, Lower Sackville NS. at 11 am Graveside service only. <br> <br> <br> <br>Every one of you who knew Jim knew that you should always expect the unexpected from him. On November 10 he surprised us one last time by passing away in his sleep. He didn't go "with his boots on" but he was at home in his own bed. <br> <br>Some of you knew Jim as a sailor. OD to Warrant Officer in 26 years of service. He loved being a sailor and travelling the world with his shipmates, but he didn't love the fact that ships only travel on the ocean. Born in Hamilton Ontario and growing up in Calgary Alberta He really didn't swim very well you know. <br> <br> I found this list of the ships he served on among his papers. <br> <br>Joined the Navy on April 23rd 1959. <br>HMCS Chaudiere 1959 - 1966 <br>HMCS St. Laurent 1967 - 1969 <br>HMCS Margaree 1971 - 1973 "HMCS Margaree 1974 - 1976 <br>HMCS Athabaskan 1976 - 1978 <br>HMCS Iroquois 1982 - 1985 <br> <br>At the end of the list he wrote " other than courses, I spent my time ashore as a maintainer in the Operations Trainer." <br> <br> READY AYE READY <br> <br>When he decided he'd had enough of living on whichever "Yacht" he was on at the time Jim retired and shortly there after went to work for Litton Systems doing, guess what, yep working on the Trump program updating the Naval ships. He really enjoyed this stage of his life because going to sea as a civilian was a lot nicer than as an enlisted man. You even got your own cabin. <br> <br>The Swiss Air Disaster in 1999 got Jim back on the ocean. This time with the Coast Guard plying the water off Peggy's Cove in what he called a rubber dinghy. You should have asked him about how he tied himself to the boat when it got really rough. <br> <br>Jim's life as a "Beagler" overlapped all of the above. He joined the Atlantic Beagle Club in 1970 or '71 and bought the first of what seemed to me like hundreds of dogs. I recall having 11 of them to look after when he went to sea. Over the years he has become well known for his breeding and training skills. He loved to teach younger people how to work with the dogs and the importance of good breeding. Over the past few years he compiled a list of thousands of pedigrees, going back many years. <br>Saturdays were hunting days snow, sleet, or hurricane. Nothing stopped the hunt. The past few years he modified that schedule a bit. The " dogs were getting older" you know. He went deer hunting a week or so ago, but the rabbits - who knows - maybe there is a season in Heaven. If you are allowed to worry after you die, I am sure he is worrying about getting the new "clubhouse" finished. He literally put his heart into getting it done. I hope it will happen. <br> <br>Jim's family, Peter, Leigh, Cheryl, Colby and Chad and I thank you for the friendship you gave Jim over the years. <br> <br>Jim will be interred in a Niche at Oakridge Memorial Gardens on Old Sackville Road, Lower Sackville on November 28 at 11 am. <br> <br>If you asked Jim how he was he would say " I'm still on the right side of the grass". He will always be.</div>