Mervin Baxstrom

MERVIN BAXSTROM Graveside inurnment services for lifelong area resident Mervin Baxstrom will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday, November 10 at Cortez Cemetery. Military honors will be provided by the Ute Mountain American Legion Post #75. Mervin was born on January 12, 1924 in McElmo Canyon the son of Harry and Bernice Baxstrom. He passed away on Thursday, November 6, 2008 at his home on Summit Ridge at the age of 84. Mervin went to grade school in Upper McElmo and high school in Cortez. After graduation in 1942, Mervin enlisted in the Army Air Force and became a pilot during World War II. Mervin married Charlotte Mae Baker of Summit Ridge on June 25, 1945. The couple had three children, Jerral, Janice and Joyce. Mervin moved his family to Arizona in 1951 and adopted another son, Thomas. Mervin drove truck for a few years and then became a deputy for the Coconino County Sheriffs Office in Flagstaff. Later, he became a heavy equipment operator until his retirement in 1985. He then moved back to Cortez where he built a home on Summit Ridge. Mervin has continued his love of flying through the years. Surviving Mervin are his wife, Charlotte Baxstrom; his children, Thomas Baxstrom of Apache Junction, Ariz., Jerral Baxstrom of Flagstaff, Ariz., Janice Baxstrom of Cortez, and Joyce Kirk of Golden Valley, Ariz.; four grandchildren, Daniel Parker, Kimberly Denise Kirk, Clifford Scott Kirk, and Thomas Highline; and three great-grandchildren, Shawntae Kirk, Jake Highline, and Taylor Highline. Mervin was preceded in death by his parents; and his siblings, Glen Baxstrom, Ellen Giles, Howard Baxstrom, Harry Baxstrom Jr., Charlie Baxstrom, Ernest Baxstrom, and Hazel Smith.