Carol C. Merkel

Born on October 3, 1936 to parents Edward and Lena (Boughton) Czadzeck in Rochester, New York, Carol Ann Merkel passed away at the age of 88 on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, at her home in Englewood, Florida, after a long and active life.

Carol grew up with a love for animals, on her parents’ farm in Victor, New York, where her family raised cattle, sheep, and chickens, and she owned a horse named, “Ace”. She attended Victor Central School, and skipped her High School graduation ceremony in 1954 to marry her husband of 70 years, Harold Merkel, who grew up on a dairy farm in the neighboring town of Mendon. Both were 17 at the time.

For the next twenty four years they raised and milked Holstein cattle on the farm in Mendon, which they purchased from Harold’s parents. Many of the animals in their herd were registered with the Holstein Association USA, and won numerous prizes at local county fairs, and at the New York State Fair. In addition to raising three children – including doing special daily exercises with son, Martin - Carol’s responsibilities included taking care of the young calves, and handling the family finances.

In 1978, soon after her daughter was married, Carol, and Harold, along with the two younger children moved to a much larger farm in rural Brodnax, Virginia, again raising and milking Holstein cows. Several years of bad weather and poor crops prompted them to make a major change and move to Englewood, Florida in 1984, where Harold drew on his building construction skills and began a second career remodeling high-end condos and apartments on Florida’s West Coast. Carol continued her duties overseeing the family finances, and also started a 40-year love affair with orchids, raising up to three hundred plants at a time in the greenhouse and shade house that Harold built for her. (Unfortunately, the shade house was destroyed by hurricane Ian in September of 2022, but the greenhouse still stands.)

Another labor of love shared by both Carol and husband Harold was the total, body-off restoration and eventual showing of the 1967 Chevelle Super Sport automobile that had been owned by their son, Rodney, who passed away in 1987, at the young age of 21. After countless hours of working together on the car, Carol and Harold took it to scores of shows, where it won over 100 trophies and prizes, including AACA Grand National and National honors.

In recent years, with the declining health and eventual passing of her beloved husband of 70 years in 2024, and with her own health problems closing in, like so many others in the twilight of their lives, Carol’s world got smaller, yet she still had energy enough to do yard work and tend her outdoor plants.

Carol will be missed, and we hold out hope that she is with her Harold now. She is survived by her 97 year old sister, Ila, her children, Phyllis (Jim) Shoots and Martin (Karan) Merkel; three grandchildren: John (Sarah) Shoots, Sarah (Eric) Trott, and Michelle (Adrian) VandenBout; and six great-grandchildren: Chloe, Jake, Sam, Hannah, Cora, and Nate.

Visitation for Carol will be held Monday, September 22, 2025, from noon to 1PM, with a brief memorial service at 1PM, at Kays-Ponger, Uselton & Lemon Bay Funeral Homes, 1935 S. Tamiami Trail, Venice, Florida 34293. Interment at Gulf Pines Memorial Park, 2401 Englewood Road, Englewood, Florida, will immediately follow the service.

A Celebration of Life for Carol and Harold will take place TBA in the near future, in Western New York State, for northern friends and family.