MERLE DELMORE FISH

Merle Delmore Fish, 28, of Rome, N.Y., died from drowning on July 22, 2004, in Rome Memorial Hospital, N.Y.

Services will be held at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witness in Wasilla at 2 p.m., Saturday. Visitation will be at Kehl's Palmer Mortuary Saturday at 3:30 p.m., with graveside service and interment to follow at Pioneer Cemetery in Palmer at 4 p.m.

Mr. Fish was born Dec. 16, 1975, in Anchorage and lived all over the Mat-Su Borough growing up. He lived in Caswell Lakes from the ages of 2-4, Butte from 4-5, Palmer/Wasilla Highway from 5-8, Falk Road from 8-10, in Minnesota from 10-18, Palmer from 18-19, Anchorage from 19-22, Palmer from 22-25, and then Rome from the ages of 25-28.

Mr. Fish worked at Harding Manufacturing Corp. for several years in Rome.

He was a member of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Rome.

"Merle was an avid fisherman and obsessive collector of basketball cards and comics. He rebuilt a '69 Mustang Grande GT. He watched classic musicals and memorized the words to the songs. He could mimic Frankie Avalon and Dean Martin. He was a fan of 'The Far Side' comics and left us many similar comics of his own. He bonded with his family and his uncles through these things. He was a fun brother and son."

He is survived by his father, Stephen R. Fish; mother and stepfather, Kathy and Adam Sleen; brother and sister in-law, Randall and Amy Fish; sister, Valorie Fish; brother, Thomas Fish; sister and brother in-law, April and Chris Berry; grandmother, Emma Fish; aunt and uncle, Karin and Carl Covey; uncle and aunt, Mark and Mary Fish; uncle and aunt, Alan and Kathy Fish; uncle and aunt, Gordon and Ione Fish; two nieces, three nephews and many cousins.

Interment will be at Palmer Pioneer Cemetery near his grandfather, Vernon Delmore Fish.

Arrangements were made by Kehl's Palmer Mortuary.