Merrilee Fiske Brooks, 82, of Richmond passed away on September 22. 2024 at Maine Medical Center in Portland. Merrilee was nearing the end of cancer treatment that was considered curative. She unexpectedly had a heart attack and passed away 5 days later from complications. She was born on July 22, 1942 in Peterborough, NH, the fourth daughter of Edwin and Ethel (Lyon) Fiske.

Merrilee attended Appleton Academy in New Ipswich, NH and graduated in 1961. She met her future husband, William Brooks, Jr., of Jaffrey in the Civil Air Patrol. They married on October 28. 1961. In the early years of her marriage Merrilee and William lived in Greenland, NH, Epping, NH and Portsmouth, NH.  Merrilee was a housewife raising two children, Robin and Billy.  Williams’s job took him to the island of Guam in 1971 and Merrilee followed soon after with Robin and Billy.

Merrilee worked as a secretary at Seiko on Guam. In 1975 the family moved to Lakeside, CA.  In 1979 they moved to Richmond, ME. Merrilee worked at a nursing home in Brunswick, ME as a CNA.  In 1990, a new job took William and Merrilee to Bahrain, where Merrilee worked as a secretary at the Department of Defense school.  In 1993 William and Merrilee moved again, this time to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Merrilee volunteered at the USO, and she baked hundreds of dozens of cookies for the troops that were in port. She met President George H.W. Bush, who greeted her as the “Cookie Lady”. In 1999, Wiliam and Merrilee returned to Richmond, ME.

Merrilee was small in stature, but had a big personality and like her name implied she was always cheerful. She enjoyed walking (4-5 miles a day),  being outside, reading, bird watching, finding chipmunks (who would eat seeds from her hand), puzzles and riding in her paddleboat. She loved animals and birds and had many pets over her lifetime.

Merrilee was predeceased by her parents, Edwin and Ethel (Lyon) Fiske, brother Richard Fiske and her husband, William. She is survived by eight sisters and three brothers: Sandra Benotti, Dianne Maki, Marjorie Tetzloff, Sharon Fiske, Wendy Cain, Sherry Fiske, Betsey Kaufhold, Elena Fiske, Orlo (Jim) Fiske Timothy Fiske and Robert Fiske. She is also survived by her daughter Robin Cavanagh and son William III, and her granddaughter Samantha Harden, as well as many nieces and nephews.

A Celebration of Life service will take place in mid-November at the chapel in Temple, NH. Date will be announced soon.