In Memoriam: Merrie Hewitt
It is with great sadness that we bid weaver and longtime CNCH member Merrie Hewitt a loving farewell. Merrie’s family was by her side when she departed this earth from cancer on June 19, 2023.
Merrie is survived by her loving family, including her cherished husband, Tom; daughter Shawn; son Stephen, sister Cindy, and many nieces, nephews, and grandchildren. Her immense joy was her grandchildren. The family’s greatest hope is for more, new cancer treatments.
Merrie’s professional career was in finance. She was also on the Board of Directors of Family Services Agency and a volunteer guide at the Monterey Aquarium for 11 years. In addition to fiber arts, Merrie was an avid traveler. For their 50th wedding anniversary, Tom says they bought a motorhome and spent two and a half months on a travel adventure to see America.
For many years, Merrie was a member of the Carmel Crafts Guild. At a recent guild gathering, Joan Near collected these memories:
Merrie was an award-winning weaver, gathering many prizes at the Monterey County Fair and in Santa Cruz, as well. And what her friends loved most about her was her amazing generosity when it came to her weaving passion. She held workshops in her beautiful home (which is full of Southwestern textile art), hosted many, many visiting instructors who came for weaving conferences, and even moved a dyeing workshop to her home at the last minute, when one of the CNCH conferences at Asilomar was stymied by a hot water regulation.
At a recent Carmel Crafts Guild event, Merrie was remembered as a weaving crusader who wrangled vendors for the big conferences, knew everyone in the field, and was a “force of nature” when it came to anything about weaving. “She was very nice about never taking no for an answer!”
Her friend Carolyn says, “She used to call her stash “Merrie Mart.” If you told Merrie you needed anything for a project, she would reply, “Come on over to Merrie Mart and let’s see what we can do for you!”
Carolyn also remembers that Merrie knew every ad jingle ever aired through the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. And she shared them often!
Susan Elliott says Merrie loaned her her first loom and supported her through that important early-learning process.
And Joan Near had the same experience. Merrie showed up with a 4-shaft loom and said, “I noticed you were interested in weaving at the last CNCH conference.” “No! I’m just a spinner!” Joan said. Merrie replied, “I’ll just leave you this loom to look at for a while.” On her way out the door, she said, “Welcome to the dark side.” And Joan has been weaving her tail off ever since.
And finally, this wouldn’t be complete without a tribute to Merrie’s incredible contribution to the CNCH organization and its governing board, AdCon. Merrie had a hand in every conference, one way or another, from Chair to Vendor Chair and on and on (and her husband Tom was the creative force behind so many conference logos and graphics!) Merrie always took a very close look at the budgets and was a true guiding light for policies and procedures. And she was instrumental in negotiating through the Covid crisis.
Merrie’s sunny smile and her can-do attitude will be so deeply missed by all who knew her. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to your local SPCA in Merrie’s honor.