By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
The many friends, family and colleagues of former mayor and township administrator Michael Andrew Merdinger said their final good-byes Saturday at the South Branch Reformed Church on River Road.
Mr. Merdinger died Jan. 18, surrounded by family, at the age of 67.
The Rev. Stephen Eckert, who said he had known Mr. Merdinger for the last 13 years, both as pastor and a firefighting colleague, gave the eulogy.
Mr. Merdinger was a man who liked to share stories, and the pastor urged attendees to tell and retell them often.
“As you share, Mike’s presence is with us,” he said. “Our loved ones only die when the stories are over.”
Mr. Merdinger as a man with his own special touch, one that God gives to transform people into kind, considerate and loving beings.
“Mike gave us wisdom and understanding and was readily available to share it,” said Rev. Eckert.
Even when he might correct you, the pastor said, Mr. Merdinger did it with a smile and a light squeeze on the arm.
Mr. Merdinger was, among other things, “a man who appreciated you for who you are,” said the pastor.
The aroma of the roast pork dinner scheduled for later in the day greeted attendees. Even there, Rev. Eckert said, Mr. Merdinger had a role, handing out peanut brittle to people cooking and preparing to serve the meal. It got to the point where everyone in the kitchen just held out their hand when they saw him, Rev. Eckert said.
Mr. Merdinger’s framed photographic portrait — with him broadly smiling — sat on a table in the front of the church. It was flanked on one side by a simple bowl of white carnations from the family and a flower spray with the yellow number 36, for the Flagtown Fire Company station, on a green background.
Mr. Merdinger was a Flagtown fireman company for nearly 40 years. About 30 Flagtown firefighters and auxilians filled one side of the balcony. They were in company shirts — but no full dress turnout, as Mr. Merdinger had requested, said one firefighter. Those wearing badges had a black elastic around them.
Mr. Merdinger was also the fire company historian, often giving long reports on the company’s first fire truck or a long-ago variety show in which the gentlemen donned dresses to entertain.
“Our historian is now part of our history,” said Rev. Eckert.
In other places around the hall sat fellow Hillsborough Rotarians, some of whom wore club blue golf shirts emblazoned with the club logo. Mr. Merdinger was a Rotary Club member for 36 years.
Mr. Merdinger’s wife Barbara, daughters Kristin and Megan and their spouses sat in the front row, along with two blithely innocent granddaughters who squirmed and smiled.
For 40 years, Mr. Merdinger was acting at the center of township life, particularly his Flagtown village.
Mr. Merdinger served as township administrator for 19 months before retiring in the summer of 2012.
He has served on many township boards, including four years on the Township Committee, serving as mayor in 1984. His service on the library board lasted more than 20 years, as did his tenure on the municipal utilities authority.
“If Mike were here today,” said Rev. Eckert, “he’d say ‘Tell them I loved them with all my heart. Tell them I want to see them again.’”
