John Merritt King

John Merritt King of Montrose, CO passed away on September 17, 2022, in Montrose, CO. John was born in Montrose to Dwain and Marilyn King on May 7, 1960.  He graduated from Olathe High School in 1978 and completed a course at the Delta-Montrose Voc-Tech in Diesel Mechanics. He grew up and enjoyed working on the family farm until it was sold. After the sale of the farm, he worked for local farm implement dealerships as a mechanic and for WAPA (Western Area Power Administration) as a mechanic. As a teenager, John was diagnosed with Diabetes and battled it for many years, and that eventually led to kidney failure. He was placed on a transplant list and was able to receive a kidney/pancreas transplant. John recovered well and was able to go back to work and once again do the things he loved to do. John loved fishing, hunting (especially bird hunting), and enjoyed spending time in the mountains. His friends and family have many great memories of bird hunting on the family farm and hunting deer and elk up in Little Cimarron. In his younger years, John was very involved in raising many different types of birds, mainly pheasants. In addition to raising birds, he also became skilled in Avian Taxidermy.

He is preceded in death by his mother, Marilyn King. He is survived by his father, Dwain King, brothers Tom King and Scott (Susanne) King. Nieces and nephews, Samantha Alsobrook, Levi Alsobrook, Kaylee (Steve) Vanden Hoek, Stephanie (Peter) Vanden Hoek, Brandon (Marietta) King, great nieces and nephews, Coralee, Jaina, Sarah, Micah, Marcus, Delaney, and Zane Vanden Hoek, Aland Stroud, and Makayla and Joseph Spangenberg.

He will be greatly missed!

Funeral services will be held on Monday, September 26, 2022, at 10:00 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1521 S. Hillcrest Dr, Montrose, CO.