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1960s

Class of 1968 (Orthodontics)

IN MEMORIAM

DR. EDWARD ROBERT JANISCH, CLASS OF 1956, ORTHODONTICS CLASS OF 1968

Edward Robert Janisch

Dr. Edward Robert “Bob” Janisch died on March 13, 2019. He was 87.

Born on Nov. 10, 1931 to Edward and Dorothy Janisch in Seattle, he grew up in Magnolia with many friends. He graduated from Queen Anne High in 1950 after excelling in track and field and as a quarterback. From early on, Dr. Janisch made and kept lifelong friends.

During summers after World War II from 1946 to 1955, he was on the Boy Scouts Camp Parsons Staff on the Hood Canal. He was an Eagle Scout with Troop 82 and at Camp Parsons.

He obtained the highest ranking in the Order of the Silver Marmot (Blue Braid). He led and positively influenced young men on many hikes and climbs throughout the Olympic Mountains.

In June 2018, he relished participating in a 100-year anniversary celebration at Camp Parsons.

Dr. Janisch graduated from the UW School of Dentistry in the top of his class and was a member of Alpha Delta Phi  fraternity, the Omicron Kappa Upsilon national dental honorary society, and Purple Shield.

On July 14, 1956, he married Doris “Dodie” Ann Turner in Seattle. Shortly thereafter, he was drafted into the U.S. Air Force, where he and Dodie were stationed in Cheyenne, Wyo. for two years. He rose to the rank of captain and was the go-to dentist at Warren  Air Force Base. He would later recall this time as a two-year honeymoon with Dodie,  where during off-duty time they hiked and skied in the Rockies, water skied, golfed, and made more lifelong friends.

In the summer of 1958, the Janisches returned to Seattle with a newborn son and Dr. Janisch commenced his private dental practice. He had offices in Seattle and Bellevue. He also taught at the School of Dentistry over the course of his career.

In 1960, the couple were blessed with a newborn daughter. In 1962, the family moved to Bellevue.

In 1966, Dr. Janisch returned to the School of Dentistry to pursue a residency in orthodontics, which he began  practicing in 1968 after obtaining his certification and Master of Science in Dentistry in the specialty.

Dr. Janisch always maintained his love of the outdoors as a hiker, snow and water skier, golfer, and boater with his family.

After a skiing accident in 1970, he suffered a stroke which paralyzed his right side (of which he never regained use) and claimed his speech, spelling, and sense of taste. With the endless support of his beloved wife, Dr. Janisch exhibited remarkable determination, endless courage, pure grit, and incredible hard work to regain the ability to walk, albeit with a heavy right leg brace. He also relearned to read, write, spell, and speak.

Dr. Janisch returned to the practice of orthodontics in 1974 and resumed teaching orthodontics at the School of Dentistry for many years.

He did not let the stroke lessen his zest for life, but continued to take his family on boat trips, road trips, and beach walks. He and his wife traveled throughout America and overseas.

The couple retired to Stretch Island, Wash., where they designed and crafted a pine-walled cabin  overlooking the Sound. At the cabin, Dr. Janisch enjoyed the company of his family and longtime friends through his remaining years

He is survived by his cherished wife of almost 63 years, Dodie Turner Janisch; son Tom Janisch (Patti Janisch);  daughter Kay Janisch Ambrose (Michael Ambrose); granddaughter Juli Janisch (Ian Edelson); and many friends.

On learning of his passing, friends wrote: “Bob is still a prince, a gentleman with a wonderful sense of humor, with kindness and consideration…generosity of spirit. We will always remember him with his amused smile, the guy who knew the joke before we caught on.”

DR. OSMOND MERRILL, CLASS OF 1961, ORTHODONTICS CLASS OF 1968

Dr Osmond Merrill

Dr. Osmond “Monte” Merrill of East Wenatchee, Wash., passed away peacefully in his sleep on Oct. 12, 2017. He was 86.

Dr. Merrill was born on Dec. 24, 1931 in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Osmond Marriner and Elthura Raymond Merrill. Shortly after, his family moved to Richmond, Utah, where he graduated from North Cache High School. He attended Utah State University in Logan for 18 months before being called to serve a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Central Atlantic states. He left for the mission home in Salt Lake City and was there only one week when the draft board canceled all deferments in Cache Valley. Many of his friends shipped off to the Korean War, but he returned home, having agreed to continue in the ROTC while attending school. At Utah State, he served as junior class president and president of Pi Kappa Alpha, and in other areas of student government and honorary organizations. He married the love of his life, Eunice Tidwell, in the Logan LDS Temple on May 16, 1951.

After graduating from Utah State and ROTC, he attended meteorology school at the UW as a member of the U.S. Air Force. He served military duty in San Bernardino, Calif., and Fairbanks, Alaska. Afterward, he returned to Seattle and received degrees in dentistry and orthodontics from the UW. While in Seattle, he served as bishop of the Seattle 8th Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints .

Dr. Merrill loved serving wherever and whenever he could and was always the first to volunteer. Many family members, neighbors and friends benefited from his expertise in gardening, roofing, sprinkler systems and turf placement. His garden produced an abundance of fruits and vegetables, and his yard was filled with roses of all varieties. He shared everything with family and friends. He loved canning, and memories made around the kitchen sink and stove will be treasured by his family. He had a great love for the Boy Scouts of America and served for over 50 years in that organization, receiving the Silver Beaver Award while serving in the Chief Seattle Council. He was an 11-year-old Scout leader at the age of 81, and his Scouts deemed him “cool.”

Dr. Merrill’s faith determined the path of his life, and he lived by these words: “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve … but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) He will be greatly missed by all who love him, but we know we will be together again because “Families Are Forever.”

He is survived by his loving wife of 66 years, Eunice; children Marianne (Scott) Nash, Kristi (Mike) Anderton, Rob (Mary), Rick (Carlynn), and Tom (Elisabeth); 19 grandchildren; 32 great-grandchildren; foster children Patricia, Kathy, and Alan Birdsbill; and two foster grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his sister Patricia Michaud and brother James. (Logan Herald Journal)