Merlyn Louise (Johnson) Mantle (1932 - 2009)

Born 28 Jan 1932 in Cardin, Ottawa, Oklahoma, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Mickey Charles Mantle — married 23 Dec 1951 in Picher, Ottawa, Oklahoma, United States

Died 10 Aug 2009 at age 77 in Plano, Collin, Texas, United States

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Biography

Merlyn was born in 1932. She passed away in 2009.

• She was the long-suffering widow of Yankee legend Mickey Mantle. Raised in Oklahoma, Merlyn met the future Hall-of-Famer in 1949 while she was a cheerleader at Picher High School, archrival of Mickey's Commerce High. The couple wed in 1951, after Mantle's rookie season, and remained married until the slugger's death from cancer on August 13, 1995. Life was not easy; the public was well aware of Mickey's accomplishments on the field, and of his many injuries, but his drinking and philandering only gradually came to light well after his playing days. Merlyn eventually became an alcoholic herself, and underwent rehabilitation at the Betty Ford Center. Though they were separated for the last six years of marriage, Merlyn maintained her home as a sort-of shrine to Mickey. Merlyn's memoir, "A Hero for All His Days", was published in 1996; she died of Alzheimer's disease. Asked why she never divorced her famous-but-difficult husband, she said: "I adored Mick. I thought I couldn't live without him. In many ways he was very good to me, very generous. I never wanted a divorce, and he never asked for one."

Sources

• NY Times story on Mantle Family

Wikipedia]

• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 25 January 2020), memorial page for Merlyn Louise Johnson Mantle (28 Jan 1932–10 Aug 2009), Find A Grave Memorial no. 40594568, citing Sparkman Hillcrest Memorial Park, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave .
• "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKW9-8QR3 : accessed 25 January 2020), Merlyn Mantle in entry for Wiliam Giles Or Billy Mantle, Texas, United States, 15 Mar 1994; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing Dallas Morning News, The, born-digital text.
• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRVL-Y2G : 26 July 2019), Meryln Giles in household of Giles Johnson, Treece, Lyon Township, Cherokee, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 11-20, sheet 3A, line 2, family 45, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 1223.