Joseph Edward Merchant, 80,
of Butler, Pennsylvania, passed away on January 11,
2012 at 6:33 p.m. at the Good Samaritan Hospice Unit
at Concordia.
He was born June 30, 1931
in Petrolia, Pennsylvania to the late George
Merchant and Margaret Ace Merchant Frineck.
Mr. Merchant worked for 43
years, retiring in 1993, at Witco Chemical Company
in Petrolia, PA, in the storeroom. He was a member
of the Parker City-Allegheny Valley Lodge F. & A.M.
#521 as a 32nd degree Mason and also a member of the
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Valley of New
Castle. He was protestant by faith.
Mr. Merchant is survived by
his wife, Sandra Barger Merchant, whom he married
March 28, 1951; one daughter, Barbara (Ritenour)
Merchant of Butler, PA; one granddaughter, Renea
Holt and her husband John of Butler, PA; three
great-grandchildren, Taylor, Adam & Brandon Holt;
and two sisters, Jean Scott of Emlenton, PA and
Betty Fair and her husband James of Chicora, PA.
In addition to his parents,
he was preceded in death by one great-grandson,
Tyler Holt, two sisters, Martha Shoup and Shirley
Craig and one brother, George Merchant II.
Friends will be received
from 1 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. on January 15, 2012 at
the Thompson-Miller
Funeral Home, Inc., 124 East North Street Butler, PA.
Funeral services will be held on Monday,
January 16, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. at the New Testament
Baptist Church, 437 North Duffy Road,
Butler,
PA
with, Reverend Steve Fisher church's pastor
officiating.
Burial will take place in the Bear Creek
Cemetery, Petrolia, PA.
