Virginia Beach- Mary Mercedes Merner passed away peacefully on January 11, 2023 at the age of 86. “Dolly”, as she was lovingly called by all her family and friends was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada to Andrew and Emma Coady on May 5, 1936. She was the baby of 11 children and loved to tell the stories about how spoiled she was. The spoiling continued the rest of her life by her loving husband Gerald. They met while both working at Pepperrell Air Force Base in St. John’s and were married the 6th of February, 1960. After the base closed, they chose to leave their beloved Newfoundland and headed to the United States to make a better life for themselves and new son, Kenneth. They joined her sister, Katherine and husband, Gerry in Texas where their first daughter, Jacqueline was born in 1962. Katherine and Gerry were transferred to another base so they found their way to Brooklyn, New York and in 1964 their 2nd daughter, Denise was born. In 1967 they moved one final time to Virginia Beach, Virginia. It is there that they built a beautiful life with their three children. Dolly was a stay at home mother with an in-home daycare for years. Tirelessly taking care of so many children and providing a safe and loving place for them. Later in life she was able to own and run a small sandwich shop at Pembroke Mall called the Bread Board. She did it all. Managed, cooked, waited tables and kept the business running until its closing in 1984. I’m not sure she ever fully knew how proud we were of her for not knowing anything about a restaurant business. She gave the best birthday parties. She was a fantastic cheerleader for my brother’s little league years. She was an amazing dancer. She could stretch 20 dollars and feed us a home cooked meal every night. She was a lover of camping and “glamping” and made every trip special. There is no one that can ever make a cup of tea as good as hers. She was our mom and Dad’s wife and she was loved! She is survived by her husband Gerald; children, Kenneth (Mary), Jacqueline Labell and Denise Bement; grandchildren, Ashley Hall (Michael), Stephen Bement, Shelbie Gitlitz (Taylor), Heather Welch (Kevin), Sarah Woolard (Jason), Aidan Merner, Andrew Labell, Nathan Labell; and great-grandchildren, Hylah and Millie Gitlitz, Finn and Waylon Welch, Teagan, Kennedy and Rory Hall. The family will have a private memorial with a memory service at a later date.