Althea Merrick

Founder, Coral Gables Woman’s Club
1859 – February 1937

The mother of George Merrick, Althea Merrick née Fink met and married George’s father, Solomon, in college, and spent much of her life devoted to her family. She taught her son to be creative and nurture his mind, aims that his solemn father didn’t share, and encouraged him to read and write poetry. When the family moved from Massachusetts to the barren area that would later become Coral Gables, their home was nothing more than a wooden shack, and there was no road, paved or otherwise. Still, Althea did not despair. In her diary, she wrote, “There was no other way but just unpack, all go to work – we knew that we must stay.” She rolled up her sleeves and transformed the shack into a home – and, years later, designed a new two-story home that would become the now iconic Merrick House.

Accomplishments

Althea opened the first school, Guavonia, in the area that would become Coral Gables when George and his siblings were young, paid for by the guava the family planted on their 160-acre farm. She also founded the Coral Gables Woman’s Club in 1923 and was one of the first members of the Coral Gables Garden Club, acting as treasurer. Her leadership in the early years of the fledgling city endures to this day, as both clubs celebrate their own centennials.

What She Said

Though Althea was known herself to be quite an orator, often stepping in to deliver sermons for her minister husband, not much remains of her speeches. However, a 1925 Miami Herald article entitled “Mrs. Merrick’s Story is One of Inspiration,” states, “Mrs. Merrick has never lost her keen interest in the growth and development of everything around her…. [T]here are few women who have lived a life as rich in accomplishment, who are constantly kept as active, and are able to carry through each day as does this remarkable woman, in spite of the fact that she loves quietness and her home much more than she cares for public life.