Wedding Announcement
for marriage of Arman Merriam to Madelon Richardson. They were
married on January 19, 1943 in Jacksonville, Florida, a location very
convenient to Camp Blanding.
 Child
Drowns While Diving For Pennies
HOUSTON ---UP--- Nine-year-old Arman Merriam III was
drowned late Wednesday while diving for pennies in a swimming pool at an
eight-year-old girl's birthday party.
The boy and two companions were having a contest to see who could
recover the most pennies in abut eight feet of water in the pool at
Forest Club, where eight-year-old Pamela Greenwood was having her
birthday party.
Witnesses told police that two young guests ran to lifeguard
George W. Scott, 42, and told him that Arman was lying on the bottom of
the pool in water eight feet deep.
The lifeguard pulled the boy from the water and rendered artificial
respiration until the Harris county emergency corps arrived with a
resuscitator.
Efforts to revive the boy were unsuccessful and he was pronounced
dead at Texas Children's Hospital. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs..
Arman Merriam, Jr., of Houston.
|
Arman L. Merriam enlisted n the Army in Cleveland, OH on 28
Feb. 1941 after completing two years of study at Knox College in
Galesburg, IL. He was selected for OCS and also
volunteered for parachutist duty. Which event preceded the other is not
known but on 1 Oct 1942 2nd Lt. Merriam was transferred from the
Parachute School as part of the Cadre team and was assigned to Company A
of the 508th at Camp Blanding, FL.
Three months later he married his college sweetheart
Madelon Richardson in Jacksonville, FL
On 30 Sept 1944, Arman was listed as "seriously
wounded" and sent to an unknown field hospital. After more than
two months of treatment he was transferred to the hospital at the
Parachute School, Ft. Benning Ga.
Following his separation from the service, Arman was
employed as a Product Manager for an unknown corporation. While living
in Cleveland, Ohio they had a son Armand L. Merriam, III, born on 3 May
1946.
Arman's work eventually caused him to relocate to
Houston, TX. On 18 May 1955, he and his family were guests at a
birthday party being held for an 8-year-old girl. A competition
was set up for the children to dive for pennies in the pool and somehow
nine-year-old Arman L. Merriam III drowned.
That event may have sparked a divorce as when Arman
died on 6 Oct 1962 his wife's name was listed as Anne, not Madelon.
Arman died in St. Joseph Twp., Berrien, Michigan and
was buried in Chicago, Illinois |
