Laurie Joan Reiser Merrell went to be with her Lord and Savior on July 21, 2026, after a 17-year battle with Parkinson’s Disease that never once managed to take her sense of humor.

Raised in Hawthorne, New Jersey, Laurie returned to her home state to teach after graduating from Catholic University in D.C. Her sense of adventure then led her overseas to teach at an Army base in Okinawa, then Germany, where she met Dan. He proposed, and Laurie traded the East Coast for a cross-country trip that ended in Kanab, Utah. There she taught 3rd grade at Kanab Elementary School for nearly thirty years, started the town’s first Girl Scout troop and delivered children’s sermons at church for decades. She was known at the school and around town for her story circles, Roald Dahl books, gumdrops and her gift for big words and unforgettable puns.

After retiring, Laurie moved to Portland, Oregon, to be closer to her children and grandchildren, and threw herself into their lives with the same energy she’d always had. She read stories, played games and showed up for every performance and sporting event she could. She stayed active editing newsletters, volunteering and rarely missing an Improv or Trivia night at her retirement home.

After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2009, she and Dan worked hard to keep her body and voice strong through exercise groups, singing groups and research studies, meeting it all with the same determination and humor she brought to everything else.

She will be remembered for her wit, kindness, compassion and patience, and for a face that made you smile the moment you saw it.

Laurie is survived by her husband, Dan Merrell; her children, Jennifer Ayers (Rob) and Brian Merrell (Teresa); her grandchildren, Lauren, Jonathan, Noah, and Isaac; and her younger brother, Joseph Reiser.