Ido F. Merlini

03/29/2004

Ido F. Merlini, 66, of 59 Swamp Road died March 29 at Martin Brun Hospital in Merano, Italy, where he had been visiting family. A longtime local businessman, he was the owner of Lenox Marble & Granite in Lee since 1988. Born in Merano, province of Bolzano, on April 26, 1937, son of Giuseppe and Alba Mescolin Merlini, he attended schools there and earned a degree in civil engineering in 1955 from the Galileo Galilei Institute of Industrial Technology in Bolzano. He later graduated from the former North Adams State College with a degree in business and management in 1975. He came to the United States in 1955 and lived in Albany, N.Y., then moved to Pittsfield in 1959 and to West Stockbridge in 1986. He served in the Army from 1957 to 1959 and was stationed in Germany with the 8th Division. He also had served in the Italian army. Mr. Merlini had been involved in marble design and sales since 1981, when he returned to Italy to work as a salesman for Union Producers Veneti, which exported marble to the United States. He was appointed head of the Veneti sales division in Houston in 1983. He returned to the Berkshires in 1986 and was a partner in Lenox Marble Designs with Robert Romeo for two years before becoming sole owner. He had first worked for E.D. Jones in Pittsfield and Dalton, then as a manufacturing engineer in the former power transformer department of GE in Pittsfield. He also was plant superintendent of the former Sheaffer Eaton Corp.'s At-A-Glance division in Pittsfield for 10 years. He was a communicant of St. Patrick's Church. A charter member of UNICO of Pittsfield, he served on its board of directors for 10 years and was financial secretary and vice president. He also was a member of the Italian-American Club. He taught conversational Italian classes for 15 years at Eastover in Lenox and Itam Lodge 564 of Pittsfield through UNICO. Mr. Merlini formed the first semiprofessional soccer team in Berkshire County in 1961. He and his wife, the former Louise M. Jacobs, were married Feb. 17, 1980. Besides his wife, he leaves a son, Michael J. Merlini of West Stockbridge, a brother, Amelio Merlini of Merano, and a sister, Natalina Torneri of Merano. FUNERAL NOTICE -- Ido F. Merlini, 66, died Monday, March 29, 2004, in Merano, Italy. Calling hours and a Memorial Mass that will be celebrated in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church will be announced at a later date. FLYNN & DAGNOLI-BENCIVENGA FUNERAL HOME, 5 Elm St., Pittsfield, is in charge of local arrangements. He also leaves several nieces, nephews and cousins.

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Ido F. Merlini

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