Posted by Glen Wilhide & Sheffield Family on November 15, 2000:

MERLE GARDNER SHEFFIELD was born in Conewango in the far reaches of western New York.The son of Claude and Lorena Gardner Sheffield, he spent his early years on what he described as a two-horse, 20-cow farm. He learned to appreciate the hard and demanding life of the rugged and courageous pioneers who cultivated what was then a remote region of the state. Because his school years had begun in a one-room country school with no kindergarten class, Merle graduated from high school at the age of 16.As many young people did during that time, he stayed on for a high school post graduate year. He earned an appointment to West Point, entered in June 1944 and graduated with the Class of '48. After completing the introductory courses at Ft. Riley and Ft. Benning, Merle married Joyce Roscoe, a schoolmate from Randolph Central School. They were posted directly to the 26th Infantry of the 1st Division in Bamberg, Germany. He always had great pride in having served with te "Blue Spades". Merle and Joyce's two children, Christine and Michael were born in Germany. Tours of duty for Merle included Professor of Military Science at the University of Rhode Island during 1952-54; University of Virginia graduate school, MS Physics during 1955-57; Assistant and Associate Professor of Physics, USMA, during 1961-62;Operations Office G-3 Section, 7th Infantry Division , Korea during 1962-63; Test Officer, Test and Evaluation Center, Ft. Benning during 1963-64. The two tours at West Point were very satisfying times for Merle. In addition to teaching physics, he enjoyed being the Officer in Charge of the Astronomy Club. Merle retired from the Army in 1971 and took a teaching position for three years at the Choate School in Wallingford, CT. He and Joyce then moved back to western New York were Merle taught physics for ten more years at Jamestown Community College during 1975-85. The energyM crisis in 1973 had worried Merle a great deal and it became his dream to start some sort of energy and information center. In 1976, in East Randolph, NY, he discoverd that an old grist mill was for sale. It seemed the ideal place to house his "energy center", so he quickly purchased the mill. With the help of community members, it was converted to an education and demonstration facility where solar, wind, and waterpower were demonstrated and tours could be conducted for interested groups and individuals. Merle received a grant from the National Science Foundation that greatly aided his endeavor. It operates today as Glover's Mill Energy Center, a memorial to Merle's dedication to both his profession and community, Ever responsive to the needs of others less fortunate, Merle and Joyce left western New York, joined the Peace Corps, and were posted to Jsmaica. Merle, once again, taught physics, while Joyce served as librarian at Sam Sharpe Teachers College during 1985-87. Retuening to the States in 1987, Merle and Joyce settled in Durham, NH to be close to their children in New Hampshire and Maine. As usual they both soon became involved in community activities. One of the volunteer activities that Merle undertook was helping with the public television auction, where he wrote copy for the auctioneers. He also became involved with the Active Retirement Association, where his favorite was the senior writing group that met weekly and published a little magazine of which Merle became the editor. His writing centered on his memoirs of growing up , and he also published a small book of poetry, One of his pieces was an account of his cadet company's participation in the funeral of Franklin Delano Roosevelt at Hyde Park, NY. At Merle's funeral his son Mick read that account, and his daughter Chris read some of his poetry. Merle took pride in staying fit, so it was a shock to find in March 1991, that he has leukemia. He had weekly transfusions for three months, and when the disease became more aggresive, he was hospitalized in Boston for three more months. Fighting all the way, Merle lost his struggle in August 1991; and the class of '48 lost a loyal scholar and soldier.

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