ROCKLAND — Paul “Gil” Merriam, 90, passed away peacefully, with family by his side at his home in Rockland on Sunday, February 1, 2026.

Gil was born on August 1, 1935, and grew up in Rockland’s South End. He graduated from Rockland High School in 1954, after which he spent one year at the University of Maine as a forestry major. This led him to California, where he worked as a forest firefighter and decided to stay to study to be a Baptist minister.

He met Barbara Lawhorn at church in San Diego in 1956. They were married in June 1958 and subsequently had two children. He gave up the seminary when he discovered his life-long passion for history, eventually earning a BA degree at San Diego State University, and a Master’s and Doctorate at the University of Oregon in History and Urban Studies.

Gil spent his entire professional career as a professor and administrator at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, leaving as a Professor Emeritus and Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs in 1987 to begin a second life in his hometown, Rockland.

There, he was an avid historian, writing three books about Rockland and serving as Vice President of the Rockland Historical Society, an organization co-founded by his mother Doris. He continued to volunteer twice a week at the society until shortly before his death. He also served as President of the Rockland-Thomaston Chamber of Commerce from 1994-98 and as a Board Member on the Lincoln Street Center for the Arts.

He co-wrote the definitive history of Rockland during the war years, Home Front on Penobscot Bay, a book that remains a valuable resource for historians throughout the United States, and from 1999 until 2005, Gil co-hosted Out of Our Past, a community television series about Rockland history. He continued to give presentations about Rockland’s history throughout his life here and elsewhere, focusing recently on the history of Rockland’s South End, his old neighborhood.

Gil is predeceased by his parents, Paul and Doris Merriam; brothers Kendall, Fred and Parker.

He is survived by son Steve and daughter-in-law Kathy Onofrio of Rockland; daughter Karyn Bolter and son-in-law Richard Bolter of Alpine, California; four grandchildren and one great granddaughter.

Visitation will be held Tuesday, February 17, 2026, from 3 - 5 pm., at Burpee, Carpenter Hutchins Funeral Home in Rockland, Maine. 

To share a memory or condolences with the Merriam/Bolter family, please visit their Book of Memories at bchfh.com.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Gil’s name to the Friends of the Rockland Public Library at https://friendsofrocklandpubliclibrary.org/donate.