Merle Lashey ’63 found purpose in helping others

Merle Vincent Lashey Jr. ’63 didn’t have to look far when he pondered his life’s purpose. He simply looked up to the sturdy beams in his farmhouse in Marion, Ohio, where he’d asked a craftsman to stencil the words he lived by: “Reverence for Life” and “The Power of Positive Thinking.”

Those words guided Lashey for years, until his death at age 101 on May 13, in Marion, says daughter Miriam Whisler. “‘Reverence for life,’ those were (humanitarian) Albert Schweitzer’s words, and that was a big part of my father’s personality,” she says. “He held such reverence for life, with nature, with other people, with growing things. And the other quote reflected my father’s positivity with people. He opened himself to learning about other people and seeing the good in challenging situations.”

Serving in World War II, Lashey faced one of his biggest challenges when, at age 20, he landed in France three months after D-Day. A scout for the 44th infantry, he experienced 203 days of combat, earning three battle stars and the rank of staff sergeant.

After the war, Lashey returned to Marion and married Evelyn Ruth, a teacher. In their 65-year marriage, they had three children, David, Beth and Miriam, and Lashey managed the 500-acre family farm. But one day, he was forced to question his future. “A good friend of mine got injured in a corn picker accident and lost his hands,” Lashey said in a 2023 interview. “I began to think, what if something happened to me? Without a college education, what would I do?”

He found his answer down the road, at Ohio State Marion, which had just started offering classes in a former high school. In 1960, Lashey enrolled at age 37. “Merle had a family to support and a farm to run, so Ohio State Marion was his salvation,” says Sue Marley ’56, Lashey’s companion in his widower years. “His professors really encouraged him, and he graduated high in his class. Ohio State changed his course in life and broadened his horizons tremendously.”

After earning his degree in agricultural economics, Lashey served as CEO of the Marion Production Credit Corp. for 13 years. Then Ohio State came calling, connecting him to the U.S. Agency for International Development, which was seeking consultants to help farmers overseas. Lashey accepted the challenge, working as a credit specialist and marketer in Kenya, Egypt and Swaziland.

In between international stints, Lashey served as a county commissioner in Marion. He also was active at Ohio State Marion, which he’d watched grow into a 187-acre campus, says Cathy Gerber ’91, director of development and community relations at Ohio State Marion. “Merle made it a point to give back whenever he saw a need that reflected the support he once received,” she says. “Expressing his gratitude was a way for him to help other people find their own path to success.”

A member of the Ohio State President’s Club, Lashey helped fund student scholarships, a new science building, a performing arts series and the Greg Swepston Gymnasium in Marion. About the gymnasium, Gerber recalls: “We’d hit a plateau in the fundraising campaign and didn’t know what to do. And then Merle came along with a big gift, and we were able to rally again and get to the goal. He joined our committee and was a quiet cheerleader.”

Lashey liked to help people anonymously, Marley says. “When we were eating in a restaurant, if Merle saw a couple with young children, he often paid their bill, and they never knew who did it. He brought joy to people, unexpected, surprising joy.”