Editor’s Note: The spa industry has lost a beloved leader with the passing of Merrill Williams. A longstanding member of the spa community, Merrill was best known for her poise, her professionalism, and her public relations’ expertise. She had a flair for words, and began her career as an editorial assistant at Vogue magazine in New York City. Merrill worked cheerfully and tirelessly to promote our industry. She was instrumental in conceiving and launching the renowned Spa Ojai at Ojai Valley Inn, and she served on the boards of the International Spa Association (2003-2006) and the Historic Hotels of America. Special thanks to her son Kevin Douglas Gross, who shares her obituary with us here.
Merrill Lee Williams née Tippett (b. October 15, 1942) passed away on Mother’s Day (d. May 12, 2024) at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, California, following a sudden stroke. Daughter of Glenda Alice Speakman and James Russell Tippett, Merrill was born at Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, New York, where she was raised the eldest of three siblings, including her surviving sister, Susan Love Poet and predeceased brother, James Russell Tippett, Jr. After graduating Bronxville Senior School in 1960, Merrill attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where, as a second-generation Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority leader, she majored in French literature and spent her senior year abroad at La Sorbonne in Paris. She returned to the United States to receive her B.A. degree cum laude.
Following a letter-writing courtship, Merrill was wed to John Michael Gross of Winnetka, Illinois in an August 1965 ceremony at St. Joseph’s Church in Bronxville. Moving to Milton, Florida, where Michael served the US Navy as a flight surgeon, Merrill earned a credential and served their local community as a public schoolteacher. Their eldest son, James Eric Gross, was born at the end of the 1967 school year, during the week of his father’s discharge. The new family relocated to California, living briefly in Woodland Hills before settling in Ojai. A second son, Kevin Douglas Gross was born in 1969.
She expressed her love for the flavors of Ojai by tending a garden, savoring local wines, curing olives, and baking with her grandchildren.
Merrill was a beloved member of the Ojai community for 53 years. During that time, and throughout the raising of her two sons, she worked in a managerial capacity for local institutions, first as Membership Director for the nascent Ojai Valley Racquet Club and later as Public Relations Director for the Ojai Valley Inn, where she was instrumental in conceiving and launching the renowned Spa Ojai.
In addition to serving on the boards of the International Spa Association and the Historic Hotels of America, Merrill actively served several local volunteer and philanthropic organizations, including the Ojai Hospital Foundation Guild, the Ojai Music Festival, the Ojai Tennis Tournament, the Youth Employment Services, and the Ojai Women’s Fund. All who knew her described her as generous, intelligent, organized, charismatic, and fun-loving. She expressed her love for the flavors of Ojai by tending a garden, savoring local wines, curing olives, and baking with her grandchildren.
Upon retiring from full-time employment, Merrill adopted midcoast Maine as a second home, expressing her love for the flavors of this region by founding, producing, and editing Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine from 2006 until 2009. Following the death of her own mother in 2009, and closely aided by her beloved sister-in-law, Erika Tippett, Merrill began a deep dive into her genealogy, culminating in the 2021 publication of her book, Stories from the Garden Shed. The world’s best mom, friend, sibling, and role model, Merrill’s most cherished positions were those of Suegra to her daughter-in-law, Carmen Zuniga, Nonnie to her two grandchildren, Xitlali Xiomara and Javier Sebastian Zuniga-Gross, and Surrogate Grandma to Javier’s many Thacher School classmates. She will be deeply missed.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on June 15 at the Ojai Presbyterian Church, 304 Foothill Rd. Following the service, an informal reception will welcome all to the 348 Lark Ellen Ave. family home.