Shelley Merbitz
July 6, 1942 ~ May 22, 2010
Resided in:
Arden, NC
Shelley Merbitz, 67, died Saturday, May 22, 2010. She was a native of Cedarhurst, New York and was associated with the hotel business.
Shelley adored her cats and was steward and caretaker of her Royal Family and had a special love for her shih tzu, "Mackie". She had the gift of communicating with all types of animals and was an avid gardener.
She is survived by two sons, Christopher Merbitz of Arden and Robert Merbitz of Huntington Station, NY.
No services are planned at this time. Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian is assisting the family.
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she was a person who never refused an animal help no matter its age.she even took a 13 year old cat renoir into her house.she had a heart of gold and her four footed friends will surely miss her
Shelley was a wonderful human being..She had a heart of gold and a love for all animals.. Will be sadly missed
Shelley was a very loving and beautiful person and a good friend. I count myself blessed to have known her. I will miss her. She has gone to be with the beloved Royals who have gone before her. All of heaven must have rejoiced when the angels brought one of their own home.
I will miss you forever and you will always be in my thoughts and prayers, to all of you. We have all lost a part of our soul and a huge part of our life. I am happy that she is in peace now and I will always remain by her side. I love you Shelley, Chris, Brandy and the rest of the Family. I will keep in touch.
Love, Tina Bledsoe (Plumley)
Shelley, I love you so so much! I know you have stepped over into the most Royal Family of all. The family left here, Christopher, Robert, Brandi, the Royals, and your little dog especially are mourning your loss. Our hearts are broken, but we know that you are smiling down on us all. I will miss you, my friend, . . . I cherish my time that I had with you; it was not nearly long enough. You made the world brighter with your twinkling eyes and wonderful laugh! Until we meet again, you carry my love and heart with you always!
I am so honored that I was at Shelley’s side when she died. I loved Shelley from the day I met her at the hotel and I stayed with her up to her death. Shelly was my dear friend, I will miss her. Shelley always had coffee for me every time I went to visit , always know I was up for a cup she didn’t even have to ask. I could be outside admiring the garden, not even in the house yet and she’d greet me in the garden with a hot cup of Hawaiian coffee. Shelley told me that our King George would love to play with a mouse she said that King George told her that he had seen a mouse while watching TV. Well, A mouse had gotten into the house back in the winter and I watched King George playing with it and K.G. never hurt the mouse and he had great fun playing with the mouse he had talked to Shelley about several months before. Shelley had a gift of animal communication and her gift was real. I believed in Shelley.
Dennis
From one cat lover to another; Shelley was a loving, unique woman with a heart of gold. Wish I had known her better. I always wanted to have her come and see if she could talk with my boys, to let me know if there was anything I needed to know. Alas, to much time went by….. To Chris & Brandy, I KNOW what you’re going thru having lost my own Mother 6 yrs. ago. May your precious memories of Shelley keep you strong.
My dearest Shelley whom I have known since 1971 when I met you at the first Huntington Manor Fire Dept. function that Warren and I attended. You and Bob were like family to us. We watched your kids grow and shared many holidays together. I suggested you move to NC when you got fed up with NY. I always looked forward to visiting you when I was in the area. I will miss you.
Shelley spoke about angels a lot and while I can’t say I’ve ever seen any, her selflessness and gentle spirit has certainly shaped my idea of what an angel should be. It’s been several years since I last saw Shelley, but she was one of those exceptional people who has continued to live with me; I still remember our times together and those memories always bring out my better side. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to know Shelley and will continue to keep her and her family in my thoughts for the years to come.
What a loss I was not expecting! My dear friend gone and I didn’t get to say goodbye. How I enjoyed our talks over the years. Mainly about cats. How she loved and cared for her Royals! I will miss this truly special friend who comforted me during my losses. My sincere condolences to Chris and her family. I am so sorry.
Dottie Persson
Iam very sorry
Sorry to hear the news ,hang in there
I am so sorry to hear about your mother and if there is anything that I can do for you please let me know. I will be thinking about you.
I met Shelley several years ago when we both worked at Hampton Inn. She was very good to me, and such a sweet lady. I saw her several times over the years since she and I both moved on from Hampton. She always talked about her children and her beloved cats. I’m so sorry to hear about her passing. I have not seen Shelley in a few years. Your family will be in my thoughts and prayers.
Shelley had a gentle spirit. I remember when her and I were sitting outside on her deck when we kept hearing a noise and to our surprize it was a hummingbird that had gotten into her greenhouse and even though the door was open, the tired little bird could not make his way out. We tried several things and he would not fly out, we were able to get Chris who gently came over, got the hummingbird to land on his hand and in a minute, set him free, and so Shelley you fought for along time and now like that hummingbird, you are set free. Will miss you. God has a new angel!
Chris, you are in my thoughts and prays. JIM
I did not know Shelley but did know Chris and how much he loved his mom. Chris and I are thinking of you in this very hard time. God Bless you for being the amazing person she raised you to be. Much love Chris and Steph
Chris, I hope that the wonderful memories of your mother will help you through this sad time. There is the assurance that she is not suffering anymore. Please know that your co-workers here are keeping you in our thoughts and prayers.
Shelley was one of the most kind hearted people I have ever met in my life. Her love for animals was amazing. Although we only worked together for a few months, we kept up by email and she would send beautiful pictures of her cats and flowers. Shelley was there for me during one of the hardest times in my life and for that I am forever grateful. God brings people into our lives for a reason and Shelley was a blessing to anyone who knew her. I am deeply sorry for your loss Chris and Brandy. My prayers are with you as well as with the little critters.
To the Merbitz Family,
We would like to share our deepest sympathy with the Merbitz family. We hope you will all find peace knowing that she is in a better place. As friends of Chris, we didn’t get the honor to meet Shelley. However, Chris’s great personality and family value is a huge indication of the wonderful person Shelley was! God Bless.
Shelley was my dearest friend. Our friendship was measured by time spent together and good times we had rather than a specific number of years, although it was about seventeen. If she had never been so ill those last few years, I would never have gotten to spend as much time as I did with her. That was the silver lining to her declining health, even though it was sad, we made the best of it. Our many shopping adventures were the stuff her joy was made of. That and her beautifully groomed and sweet cats. That was her joy-seeing them bright-eyed and happy. One other thing. She could turn on her personality button at a moment’s notice and get a smile out of almost anyone she met! If she couldn’t get you to smile, you were just plain ill. Lastly, she had a real eye for the beauty of flowers. She could spot the prettiest, most unusual blooming plant in a store from 100 feet away! In a flash it was in her cart, headed for the checkout and bound for her garden. That was pure joy-seeing her enjoy and sharing our mutual love of growing things. She loved Mackie (her puppy)as much as I ever saw anyone love anything. She was an all-around good soul and I loved my friend as much as my own sisters.
Shelley, you will always be remembered as an angel. Your life reflected the love you had for others – two and four legged. There has never been and never will be another ‘you’. You are missed!
I am just now learning of Shelley’s untimely death. I had known this beautiful, sweet woman since 2001. We met online when I was trying to rehome some rescued cats that I fostered. I had posted to many rescue lists, and when Shelley saw one of my emails that were sent out to people in the groups, she graciously offered to assist me! Since that first email, we were friends. Although I did not see her often, we emailed on a regular basis and talked on the phone occasionally. She always gave me good advice about my cats, and I loved hearing her amusing tales of ‘the Royals.’
I will miss Shelley.
I have been sending emails and wondered why I haven’t heard from Shelley.
I just learned of her death. I so wish I had known. I would have visited her.
I worked with Shelley @ HI and Hampton Inns. We became good friends. I have
missed her since I moved away from Arden. My deepest sympathy to her two
sons. Hope someone is looking after her babies (cats). I will miss her!!!!!!
Love Betty Harrison
You have been gone for a year now; yesterday, May 22. I miss you, dear friend, as much as ever and think of you so often. I find myself listening for your call, listening for your laugh, or the tinkle of your cats’ collars when I came for visits, and so much more. You are missed so terribly, but God had a place for you and needed you more. Give Shamrock and Bridget a big hug!
Oh my gosh, I am stunned by this news. She has been gone for over a year and I had no idea. We always had so much fun together working at the desk at HI. We would share a pizza or quesadilla’s when we were on the same shift. She was a wonderful person. We connected over cats as I am sure many people did with her. I wish I had seen here one more time after I left the hotel. I didn’t even know she had been ill.