Virginia Lee Wood Merz

Mrs. Virginia “Ginny” Lee Merz was born on September 15th, 1922 to Ruth and Harry John Wood. She peacefully passed away on January 10th, 2018. Two sons, George A. Merz (Ph.D.) and Christian L. Merz (M.D.), three grandsons, Jonathan, Jason and Alexander Merz, two younger brothers John and Joseph Wood, and numerous nephews and nieces survive her. Her husband George, her parents, her twin sister, Edna (Wood) Brock and one younger brother Truman Wood, preceded her in death.Ginny was born in Texas, but spent her childhood and teenage years in Valley View, Kentucky and Indianapolis, Indiana.During WWII Ginny worked at Stout Army Airbase (Indianapolis, Indiana), and Greenville Army Airbase, Greenville South Carolina, where she met then Major George C. Merz, a WWII veteran, who was a troop carrier pilot and squadron commander, and was a veteran of the Sicily, D-day and Holland invasions (1943-44) in the European theater of operations. She married George (deceased 2009), the love of her life, on November 27th, 1946 in Greenville South Carolina. During their long marriage (63 years-1946 to 2009) they traveled widely and lived in many places but primarily Denver, Colorado, the Philippines, Dayton, Ohio, Warner Robins, Georgia, and Atlanta, Georgia.After their marriage, Ginny and George relocated to Denver, Colorado, where George took up command of an Air Force squadron at Lowry Air Force Base. Both of their sons were born in Denver while George was stationed at Lowry AFB. During the Korean War, George was assigned to the Philippines to command an air sea rescue squadron while Ginny and their sons, lived briefly in Indianapolis, Indiana and then San Francisco, California awaiting transportation to the Philippines. She joined George with their two sons in 1953, after crossing the Pacific on a converted troop ship from San Francisco, via Hawaii en route to Manila. They lived on Clark Air Force Base outside of Angeles on the Philippine island of Luzon. During her time at Clark AFB, Ginny was an active member of the Officer's Wives Club where she participated in, and helped organize events, such as art classes, and tours within the Philippines and to Hong Kong, China.At the conclusion of George's tour of duty at Clark AFB, he was reassigned to Wright Patterson Air Force Base outside Dayton, Ohio in 1954. Ginny once again managed another military move half way around the world, as her family made their way from Clark AFB to WPAFB in Dayton. This time they flew home, courtesy of the USAF, from Clark AFB to Travis AFB outside San Francisco, California via Guam AFB, Bucholz AFB Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, and Hickam AFB, Hawaii.After briefly living in Vandalia Ohio, Ginny moved her family into their new house in Dayton. Ginny and her family lived in Dayton until 1959, when once again George was transferred, this time to Robins AFB, near Warner Robins, Georgia.While at Robins AFB from 1959 to 1966, she served as president of the Officer's Wives Club for several years, helped produce and participated in several musical productions as part of a Wives theater group, and was responsible for organizing many other events for the Air Force wives. She also began her work as a Red Cross Volunteer at the Robins AFB military hospital which she continued doing for 20 years. During her time at Robins AFB she was active in the PTO at several Warner Robins elementary, junior and high school where her sons were enrolled.George retired from Air Force in 1966 as a Lieutenant Colonel, and Ginny organized yet another move for her family to Atlanta, Georgia, where they lived from 1966 until 1967. In 1967, George started a second career with the USAF as a civil servant, returning to Wright Patterson AFB to serve as an engineering project manager with the Aeronautical Systems Division (ASD). During this time, George was part of the team that developed and engineered the Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System (LAPES) that was used to re-supply US Marines during the battle for Khe Sanh in Vietnam.Ginny worked for several years as a retail salesperson for Elder-Beerman department store in Dayton in the fur department. She also organized and managed a number of reunions for George's WWII troop carrier units including the 61st TC Squadron, 32nd TC Squadron, and 314th TC GROUP. She spent long hours contacting the remaining members of the units calling them, and developing and mailing the program information, maintaining the mailing lists, updating them, and ensuring that no one was over looked or forgotten.Ginny took great pleasure in entertaining the many friends she and George made while in the military and in their later retired lives together. After George retired from ASD in 1987, she and George lived in their Dayton Ohio dream home, and began actively traveling throughout the US and the world. Among their fondest memories were several trips to Europe to reconnect with George's WWII saviors in the Dutch underground, and their trip with Chris (their youngest son) and his family to Tahiti.Ginny was very fond of spending time at their condominium in St. Augustine Florida, where she and George would walk the beaches seeking surf treasures. Both she and George were great animal lovers and were the proud owners of several furry friends (one German Shepard, Heinrich, and two Bouviers, Indy and Emi0 who were treasured family members during their lives with Ginny and George.Since George's death in 2009, Ginny resided in Atlanta Georgia close to Chris Merz, her youngest son. During her long life Ginny touched many people her kindness and loving nature, and will always be remembered for the example she set...Mrs. Merz will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia by her beloved husband George, to be announced at a later date.Family and Friends will be invited to a visitation at Tom M. Wages Snellville Chapel to be announced in a few days. Condolences may be sent or viewed at www.wagesfuneralhome.com. Tom M. Wages Funeral Service, LLC, “A Family Company,” Snellville Chapel (770-979-3200) has been entrusted with the arrangements.Read Obituary