Charles Merrell Calhoun

Charles Merrell Calhoun, a veteran of Atlanta's advertising and public relations community, died on October 28, 2024, at the age of 90. A 1955 graduate of the University of Georgia and a member of Sigma Chi fraternity, he held vice-presidential posts with Atlanta-based ad agencies Liller, Neal, Battle and Lindsey, and with Cargill, Wilson, & Acree, where he established the firm's public relations department. In the 1970s, he formed his own advertising and PR firm, which he later merged into Young and Rubicam International.

Merrell's community service activities included United Way, Easter Seals Society, and a board membership with the Georgia chapter of the Leukemia Society of America. Merrell and his wife Connie were long-time members of Northside Church.

A lifetime woodworking and building hobbyist, Merrell constructed numerous furniture pieces and decorative artifacts, plus a mountainside vacation home at Lake Hiwassee, North Carolina. As avid architectural and history aficionados, Merrell and Connie purchased and restored an 1836 antebellum home in Talbotton, Georgia, his home town.

In retirement, Merrell actively supported the classical music arts. He was a board member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, served as president of the Georgia Chamber Players, was a board member and former president of the Atlanta Steinway Society, and established the Connie and Merrell Calhoun scholarship for piano studies at the University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music.

Merrell is survived by his wife of 64 years, Connie Calhoun; their children Martha Shafer (Tim), Charles Merrell Calhoun, Jr. (Cary), and John Calhoun (Noel); and grandchildren Matthew Shafer (Alicia), Emily Shafer Marcacci (Mike), Charles Merrell "Chase" Calhoun III, Nicholas Calhoun, and Benjamin Calhoun.

A funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM on Sunday, November 3, 2024, at Northside Church, 2799 Northside Drive in Atlanta.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Respite Care of Atlanta, www.respitecareatlanta.org.