This weekend, our family and community suffered the great loss of Merle Louise Singleton Reynolds. She passed away after a long and tumultuous physical and mental battle with the complications of a stroke and heart attack.

I cannot describe the difficult process that is losing a loved one and being rushed to plan a funeral service and scramble to gather funds. The funeral homes in our area do not offer payment plans and, in an effort of frugality and sincere love for Merle, we have pieced together a beautiful and minimalist funeral that still costs thousands of dollars.

In hopes that you can feel the way Merle touched the world, please read some of her obituary here:

Obituary

Merle Louise Singleton Reynolds passed away peacefully at Lexington Medical Center on September 3rd, 2023 after a time of poor health.

Merle attended Clemson University’s inaugural nursing class and dedicated much of her life to helping others. She was witty and kind, good to those around her and undoubtedly smart. She enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren, to whom she was known as “Mim” and spent her last years getting to know her great grandson, much to her absolute delight. Merle also enjoyed reading, collecting angel art and figurines, ice cold Fresca, cats, watching television from a warm chair and dinners with her family. She was not a traditional grandmother but she was out anchor when life got stormy. She left behind a legacy which includes snacks of mini marshmallows and the love of Jamocha shakes from Arby’s. Sometimes we would feed the ducks behind her apartment. She would pat us down with baby powder when we slept over and the smell still reminds us of her. She spent years perfecting a recipe for Greek dressing and we ate so many salads we got sick of them. We took her to the beach one year to see a full moon and she got stuck sitting in the sand. We laughed so hard we garnered the attention of other beach-goers but we did not care because it was a moment for only us and she had a way of making people feel comfortable in their own skin. She leaves behind countless memories that are borderline inappropriate to share in an obituary, but will stay with us and make us laugh for as long as we live. She will be deeply missed by everyone who loves her.

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