Dorothy Pearl Merkley, resident of Santa Rosa, California (July 16, 1926 - May 13, 2012), died peacefully at home on Mother's Day morning, after a short bout with cancer.  Born in Ogden, Utah to Perry Gleason and Pearl Jensen Gleason, she was preceded in death by her parents and her brothers, Ross, Gene, and Leslie.  She will forever be cherished by her children and her grandchildren.

Dorothy married her soulmate, Ralph G. Merkley in 1946, whom she met at the University of Utah.  After they began their life together in Boston, where Ralph graduated from Harvard Medical School, they settled in Northern California.  They were happily married and lovingly raised their four children in Cupertino and Saratoga before Ralph passed away in 1987. Dorothy moved to Santa Rosa in 1992.

Dorothy enjoyed the symphony, reading, animals, and nature, and she appreciated all of the arts.  She loved family trips to Yosemite, Hawaii, and to Lake Alpine and the Stanislaus River, but most of all she treasured spending time in her home and yard with her late husband Ralph and children, Jane Futrell, Karen Merkley, Paul Merkley, and Rebecca Merkley, and her three grandchildren.  Dorothy believed that, above all, happiness is found in the gardens we tend and the people we love.

San Jose Mercury News/San Mateo County Times, May 27, 2012