Katherine Merritt

Katherine, a native of Denver, Colorado, was raised in the home that her father, Louis Kucharski, built in the south Denver area. Louis constructed a fish pond in the yard of their beautiful home … and so the story begins.

During the cold winter months in Denver, Katherine and her siblings would ice skate on the fish pond that her father had built. She really fell in love with ice skating! Katherine would skate for hours upon hours until she perfected her ability to skate as beautifully as the stars she watched in the movies. Throughout her life, Katherine was able to pass down this love of ice skating by teaching many of her children and grandchildren!

Katherine attended south Denver schools: Asbury Elementary, Grant Jr. High, and South High School. Her husband, Roy Merritt, also attended south Denver schools which was where they met. Roy and Katherine were in a few classes together at Grant Jr. High. One day in 7th grade, Roy said to himself, “I’m going to marry that girl someday.”

Roy and Katherine were married February 19, 1950 at St. Joseph Polish Church in Denver, Colorado. They were blessed with 72 years of marriage and three children, Don (Karla) Merritt, Karoleen (Joe) Weber, and David (Sue) Merritt; eight grandchildren, Doug (Wendy) Merritt, Dan (Charmaine) Merritt, Shawn (Brenda) Weber, Todd Weber, Kellee Weber (Chris Kichnet) fiance, Dillon Merritt, Leanna Merritt, and Katrina (Austin) Betz; and eight great-grandchildren, Dehlyla, Mystin, Caroline, Tyler, Noah, Sierra, Heidi, and Kaya.

Katherine was an excellent cook and kept her family well-fed! In fact, she took her love for cooking and worked as a cook for the Arapahoe County School District for many years. She could bake a cherry pie like nobody’s business! Katherine also started up her own very successful house cleaning business. She kept this business going for many years until she retired.

Roy and Katherine loved the outdoors! They enjoyed many years together camping with family and friends! Katherine even had her own ATV and really enjoyed hitting the open Colorado trails. They also loved boating! Many a weekend, you would see Roy behind the wheel of their boat and Katherine following right behind him on her water skies. She normally used two skies, but often on a good ski day, you would see Katherine slalom skiing on the lake and taking jumps as high as she could go!

When Roy and Katherine retired, they settled down near the little town of Elizabeth, Colorado. It was here where they lived on some acreage and enjoyed watching deer, turkeys, the occasional fox, and other wildlife from the comfort of their front porch. It was a quiet and peaceful life they truly enjoyed together!

As Katherine aged gracefully, it became more comfortable for her and Roy to stay with their daughter, Karoleen, in Colorado City. It was here that Katherine passed away peacefully on April 26th, 2022, at 93 years of age.

Katherine is preceded in death by her parents, Helen (Wardinski) and Louis Kucharski and seven siblings: Elizabeth Kucharski, Aggie Cairo, Sophie Hutchings, Virginia Lippincott, Lucille Gerber, Lawrence Kucharski, and Jerry Kucharski.

Katherine enjoyed her good life and was loved by many. She will be deeply missed!