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Merrit Gilmore (Hasenauer)

February 20, 1978 - June 12, 2023

Merrit Ray Gilmore, 45 years, of Arlington, NE, passed away, Monday, June 12, 2023, at her home.

Merrit was born February 20, 1978, in North Platte, NE, to Charles and Jolynn (Crawford) Hasenauer. She grew up in Hersey, NE until she moved to Fremont in 1989, she later moved to Arlington in 1991. Merrit graduated from Arlington High School in 1996. She continued her education at Northwest Missouri State University. Merrit married Tommy Gilmore on March 9, 2002, in Arlington. Merrit worked for the Arlington Public Schools for 20 years.

Family was most important in Merrit’s life. She was the manager of the Arlington City pool, Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary, and she was the Arlington Youth president for 14 years for wrestling.

Merrit is survived by her husband, Tommy of Arlington; sons, Hunter, Kolton and Remington all of Arlington; father, Charles (Barb) Hasenauer of North Platte; brothers, Jeff (Cheryl) Hasenauer and children, Kylea, Skylar and Aiden all of Arlington; Brandon (Sara) Hasenauer and children Mason, Holly, Nolan and Chase all of Arlington; Jacob (Emily) Hasenauer and children Emma and Miles of North Platte; sisters, Tonyia (Michael) Miller and children, Sydnee (Isaiah) Estrada, Caleb and Hayden of North Platte, NE.

She was preceded in death by her mother, Jolynn Reed and mother-in-law, Kristi Gilmore.

Celebration of Life will be 1:00 PM, Friday, June 16, 2023, at the Arlington Auditorium in Arlington, NE. Family will be receiving friends from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM Thursday, June 15, 2023, also at the Arlington Auditorium.

Burial will be at Arlington Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the family.

Reckmeyer - Moser Funeral Home, 232 W Eagle St, Arlington, NE 68002 402-478-4151.

#2-Published in the Enterprise June 30, 2023

By Cheyenne Alexis - features@enterprisepub.com

Merrit Gilmore's youngest son, Remington, pays extra close attention to the tree in his family's backyard in Arlington nowadays.

Inside the tree, he spots a cardinal almost every day, watching him, his two brothers and father.

"I think that's Mom," he said Tuesday afternoon, a peaceful smile on his face.

Merrit Gilmore died at age 45 June 12, and to those she surrounded herself with, left behind a legacy for her community.

Merrit moved to Arlington in 1991, and graduated from Arlington High School in 1996.

There, she met Tommy Gilmore, who knew for the longest time that he wanted to spend his life with her.

"Her mom used to own a restaurant here in town, and I used to go down there. We knew who each other were in high school, but I was always the guy she avoided," Tommy said. "I just kept asking her out, and she always for the longest time told me 'No.'"

One day, Merrit took Tommy up on his offer to take her out, and 25 years later, the couple remained together.

"We got married March 9, 2002, so we dated close to four years before we got married," Tommy said. "We dated for a month or two and then we moved in together. We were just together ever since."

And Tommy meant "together" in a literal sense.

"Usually, wherever you've seen Merrit most of the time, I was with her and vice versa," he said. "We didn't do very much without each other.

"Merrit made me a better person. Her and I were best friends. We could talk about anything."

The two grew their family with the births of sons Hunter, Kolton and Remington.

"When her and I got married, I hit a homerun," Tommy said. “I hit a homerun and never looked back.”

Community involvement

One imperative aspect of Merrit's life was volunteerism and being part of her community.

Merrit was a para at the Arlington Schools' library, managed the pool during the summer, was involved with youth wrestling for Arlington Youth Sports, was a member of the Arlington Volunteer Fire Department's Auxiliary and the Nebraska-Maine Wrestling Exchange.

"I don't know how she had time for it all," said Sara Bossharts, who worked with Merrit on the AVFD Auxiliary.

Merrit, Bossharts said, was instrumental in firing the auxiliary back up again, after it had disappeared for a number of years.

"It just kind of turned into where no one was active in it, and she and I talked for a couple years on bringing the auxiliary back, let’s support these volunteer firemen and firewomen — she was a huge push on bringing it back,” she said.

Tommy, who has been on the fire department for 25 years, said Merrit was always by his side when it came to the fire department.

During the 2019 floods, Merrit supported the department as much as possible.

“She went to Casey’s and got coffee, had it all set up in the rigs for everybody,” Bossharts said. “It was really cool to see how quickly she jumped in to help.”

Merrit also started a program for the auxiliary to help ensure firefighters received training and childcare.

When the Gilmores' oldest son, Hunter, announced that he wanted to wrestle when he was a young child, Merrit began learning and falling in love with the sport.

"She wasn't really big into sports, but... she didn't like the way the program was being run, and I think it was the second year that there was a guy heading it up, and she shadowed him. I think it was the second year or third year that she took it over," Tommy said. "Merrit was the kind of person where, when she put her mind to something, she was all in. She would stay up late at night registering kids and changing things and doing all sorts of stuff."

Sabrena Lozo, who is also involved with the AYS wrestling program, said Merrit had a strong influence on AYS.

“I remember a conversation we had about her decision to step down and pass the proverbial torch to us. She gave her heart and soul to AYS Wrestling and wanted to make sure it was in good hands,” she said. “Merrit also made sure the coaches were not only technically sufficient, but emotionally in it. She recruited some of the greatest coaches/dads to guide our youths. She led with love and guidance through our journey through AYS.”

Merrit was also determined to make changes to the pool when she took over, Tommy said.

"They always hired college kids or high school kids to manage the pool, and she didn't like that. She had (applied) a couple of times," he said. "Finally, they got tired of the complaints from parents and they asked Merrit if she would still be interested in doing it. She changed the whole culture down there: how it’s run, implemented new rules.”

With her job at the library, Tommy said Merrit was dedicated to helping the students.

“She started out in special education,” he said. “She transferred into the library, and she really enjoyed the library. I’ve heard from numerous teachers… all the kids just loved her. Kids were always up, sitting at Merrit’s desk, talking to her. She was just invaluable up at the school.”

Despite the many hats Merrit wore, Tommy said she never wanted credit for any of her work. "She was never that person that was like, 'Look at what I did,'" he said. "She was always very humble, she was just kind of, 'Get it done and move on.' That's probably one of the things I really admire about her."

Reflecting on memories

Tommy said the support from the community after Merrit’s passing has been “overwhelming.”

“The morning it happened… there were cars lined up for two blocks. Everybody wanted to help,” he said. I’m guessing there were over 100 people at my house. And it’s not just support from this community. We’ve had support from Fairbury, Wahoo, Wisner — all over the place.

“It’s sad that a tragedy like this has to happen, but you really realize who your friends and support are.”

Lozo said Merrit led with “grace and love.”

“Unfortunately, our community did not realize how great the impact she had on us nor the work she had done until she was gone,” she said. “She had once said to me, ‘Sabrena, I wasn’t going to step down until I knew this organization was taken care of.’ I feel that sums it up on how much love she had for our wrestlers, our community and our school. She really was a pioneer and a person that doesn’t come around in lifetimes.”

Merrit left a positive impact on the community and her family, Tommy said.

“She was always just a positive person, and I think that’s what everybody in the community loved about her. Hopefully we can carry that on for her,” he said. “She left a big void in town, and a bigger void here.

“Every once in a while, a person like that comes along. They’re one-in-a-million kinds of people. She was that person.”

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Public Library, Blair, Nebraska ~~~

FindaGrave # 255395517