Frederick Charles Merrifield

Frederick Charles Merrifield was always asking “why?”. In high school he and his friend, Jim, asked why can’t we create a fuel cell? They did and they won first place two years running at the Illinois State Science Show.

Why can’t I do these engineering problems more quickly? At Iowa State University using two common tools fastened together, he did. His professor was intrigued, which led to a Chicago company helping Fred patent it and then manufacturing the RotoAngle to sell to engineering students in colleges throughout the Midwest and East.

Why can’t you build your own snowshoes? Because the continuous Lacing is too difficult to do with proper tension. But Fred used cable ties Like the ones Boeing used to bundle cables in their airplanes. These ties fastened the decking to the aluminum tubing at a single point. When a cable tie breaks on a snowshoe hike in the mountains a replacement is as close as your pocket. Rawhide lacing would continue to unravel rendering the snowshoe nonfunctional.

Why can’t we have barnwood as an accent in the house without tearing down a barn and dealing with the animal smell? He treated new wood with an environmentally safe chemical spray that he developed. That and sunlight made the cedar turn gray quickly.

Why isn’t there a computer program for a sorority to handle their financial needs which would include budgeting, keep track of individual payments and print a delinquency note when needed. With his business skills, self-taught programming skills and a friend who knew several programming Languages, they developed 'Chapter Manager’ which was sold to sororities around the country.

Fred was a partner in an electronics rep firm, an avid photographer and a woodworker who made furniture, turned bowls and vases and customized many tools for easier use. He climbed mountains, backpacked with family, coached soccer and never stopped asking why.

He was looking forward to coming home from rehab after a fall but his heart had other ideas. He is survived by his wife of 62 years (Ellen), two daughters (Megan and Margo), five grandchildren (Carter, Mackenzie, Sawyer, Brogan and Davis) and two nieces (Janeese and JilI) a nephew (Todd) and many cousins.

We will share his ashes with the mountains in Sun Valley, Idaho on October 25 and with family in Marshalltown, Iowa in the Spring of 2027.