Merilee Hill (Merilee Rydin Carlson Hill) aged 78 years, of 55 Oak Knoll, Amherst, passed away on March 26, 2021, after a brief battle with cancer.

Born in Dayton, Ohio, on May 28, 1942, to Walter Ernst and Kathleen Carlson, Merilee earned her BA in Education and an MA in 1973 in English Literature at UMass. For six months during her undergraduate years, Merilee was an exchange student at the University of New Mexico, and from 1964-65, she spent a year traveling abroad and then settled in Schönberg to study German and teach English as a second language to adult students. In 1966, she entered UMass grad school and participated in the first year of the UMass Freiburg Program for students fluent in German but studying other disciplines. In 1967, Merilee participated in the development of all aspects of Five-College programs as the first Five-College Fellow to work for Five-College Coordinator, North Burn. Devoted to the needs of adult learners, Merilee directed Evening College, started the Credit-Free Workshop Program, and in 1981 moved to the College of Engineering to direct the Video Instructional Program, a distance-learning program (pre-web), which delivered courses remotely by satellite and videotape to industry so that engineers could complete courses for a master’s degree. Merilee was the 1995 recipient of the Chancellor’s University Advancement Award.

Married for over thirty years, Merilee and Sandy Hill traveled widely, engaged with friends, remained active in academic and musical pursuits locally and beyond, and enjoyed visits from extended family. After Sandy’s stroke in 2000, Merilee retired from the University in order to care for Sandy at home and to maintain a rich, active life for them both. Merilee provided two decades of loving care for Sandy before his death in July of 2020.  Merilee was a devoted friend, letter writer, and gift-giver. Lively, energetic, and vibrant, she pursued watercolor, tap dance lessons, Qigong, and practiced daily mindfulness meditation.

Merilee is survived by her daughter Greta Neunder (Red Robinson) of Brooklyn, NY, and stepdaughters Jessie Hill of New Haven, CT, and Rosy Hill (Garry Scott) of Burlington, VT; grandchildren, Samantha and Jack Scott, and Lily and Ada Goren; siblings David, Donald, and Margery Carlson; and sisters-in-law Evelyn Spalding and Wendy Merriman. Memorial register at www.douglassfuneral.com