Mary “Mimi” Merrow Paden

Mimi passed away on March 24, 2015. She was born on June 1, 1932 in Pennsylvania to parents Oliver Wolcott Merrow and Julia Mildred Baxter Merrow. Her favorite childhood memories centered around riding her horse on a farm in Merrow, CT and sailing in Mystic, CT.

She graduated from Winchester (MA) High School and Colby Junior College. After college, she was an EEG technician at Children’s Hospital in Boston. On a trip to visit her brother in Seattle, she was set up on a blind date with David W.J. Paden. She and Dave married in 1955 and spent the early years of their marriage racing sailboats and exploring the Northwest. When they first moved to Mercer Island in the late 1950s, they had difficulty getting a mortgage because the land was zoned rural.

After several years in Oregon and Texas, they returned permanently to Mercer Island in 1967, where they were known as local experts at catching sockeye salmon in Lake Washington. For thirty years, Mimi volunteered at and managed the charitable antique store Emmy’s Attic and was a member and president of the Mercer Island Children’s Hospital Orthopedic Guild. This was an era of community building on the Island.

Mimi was preceded in death by her husband Dave in 2001. She is survived by her children Margaret Paden (Joe Ford), Brian Paden, Julia Paden (Brian Hulse); grandchildren Guy Paden (Heather Stoken), Brice Hulse, Eleanor Hulse; and great grandson Nathan Paden. She is also survived by her siblings George Merrow and Judy McGovern.

Mimi requested to be privately remembered.