The Rev. Dr. Charles Jefferson Merrill died on July 24. He was a father, professor, and for the past thirteen years, a Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama. Born in Winfield, Kansas, on Sept. 21, 1950, to John & Dorothy Merrill, “Chuck” grew up across the South, where his father was professor of journalism at various schools. The oldest of five siblings, he grew up in Natchitoches, Louisiana, and College Station, Texas, the family eventually settling in Columbia, Missouri, during his high school years. 

Charles went on to attend Dartmouth College, graduating in 1972 with a major in Spanish. He studied abroad in Spain and Germany, also spending a year as a farmhand in Poyenberg, Germany. It was during his college years that he was received into the Catholic Church, an event which he counted as the most momentous of his life, along with the birth of his children. He went on to study at Duke University with a focus on medieval Catalan literature, receiving his doctorate in 1978. His scholarly interests were wide-ranging – besides speaking more languages than he could ever manage to count, he was an expert in medieval history and literature. His lifelong interest in Christopher Columbus culminated in a book, Colom of Catalonia (which proved especially popular in its Catalan translation), and he also published a Spanish translation of his friend Dr. Germain Grisez’s Fulfillment in Christ. 

Dr. Merrill’s first teaching job was at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. There he met Betty Mayfield, and they were married in 1983. After completing his Ph.D., he was hired at Mount St. Mary’s College & Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he taught as a professor in both the college and later the seminary for 31 years. In 1987, his daughter Susanna was born, and two years later, his son Jack. Throughout his time at The Mount, his teaching inspired countless undergraduates and seminarians. For many summers, he led seminarians to study Spanish language and Mexican culture in Querétaro, Mexico, where he was beloved by both students and locals. Always a prolific storyteller, his songs and stories were appreciated by many a child, student, and friend, and entertained audiences for years through his radio programs The Folk Show and The Unpopular Music Show while at The Mount. 

Some years following the end of his marriage and its annulment by the Church, and having continued to develop his spiritual life while teaching at the college and seminary, Charles began to discern a call to the priesthood. He approached Bishop Robert J. Baker, who affirmed this calling and accepted him for seminary formation, sending him to the Pontifical Beda College in Rome, Italy. Charles was then ordained to the priesthood in June 2013 by Bishop Baker, who gave him his first assignment as parochial vicar of Annunciation of the Lord Parish in Decatur, where he served two years. He went from there to become parochial vicar of Holy Spirit Parish in Huntsville, where he also assisted as a co-chaplain at Pope St. John Paul II Catholic High School. In 2018, Bishop Baker called Father Merrill to return to Annunciation of the Lord Parish – now as its pastor. He served there seven more years, until his retirement on July 1, 2025. 

From retirement, Father Merrill took up residence at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Birmingham. This did not mean putting up his feet, though, for he dedicated himself almost every day to hearing confessions, and quickly became a sought-after confessor. He assisted with daily and Sunday Masses. He also took to walking the streets of downtown Birmingham, where he visited the local establishments and made many connections. Friends from his previous assignments came to visit him regularly, while he also visited with new friends in Birmingham and continued to exercise his spiritual fatherhood. This zealous activity was not without its trials, and by the one-year mark of his retirement, Father Merrill had to remain seated during much of Holy Mass, due to his increasingly-precarious health condition. 

Reluctantly, some weeks before his passing, he resigned himself to the fact that he would not be able to celebrate public Masses any longer. From there, he further accepted that he could no longer assist with hearing confessions, as he had before. These were sad moments for him, which he lamented to Cathedral staff and ministers even days before his death. Fortified by the sacraments of the Church – having been visited by various priests and Bishop Baker, to say nothing of a stream of other family and friends, and having been cared for by his loving children – Father Merrill passed to his eternal reward on July 24. The family especially thanks SouthernCare New Beacon Hospice. 

The Rev. Dr. Charles Jefferson Merrill is survived by his devoted children, Susanna and Jack; his sisters, Judy, Linda, and Debbie; his brother Jon; numerous nieces and nephews; and many spiritual children. The family thanks all for their prayers. May Father Charles Jefferson Merrill rest in peace. Amen. 

His funeral Mass was celebrated by the Bishop Raica on July 28 at the Cathedral of St. Paul. Father Rick Chenault, one of Father Merrill’s former students at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and current pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in Huntsville, preached the homily. At the end of Mass, Bishop Raica remarked, “Over the past few years, as I came to know Father Merrill, he was a quiet unassuming priest. He loved his ministry and he loved the Lord.  This was evident in his smile and the way that he pastored a growing parish. … He fulfilled the role of “father” to us and to many in the way he cooperated in bringing forth new life, in the way that he supported family, and in the way he now leaves us with memories. On behalf of the entire Diocese of Birmingham, we thank the Lord and Father Merrill’s family for allowing us to get to know Father Merrill. May he rest in peace.” Burial followed at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to the Capital Campaign of Annunciation of the Lord Parish, 3910 Spring Ave SW, Decatur, AL 35603. Father Merrill oversaw the building of the Perpetual Adoration Chapel during his time there as pastor; donations will go towards the building of the parish’s new church, after many years of worshipping in a temporary space.