Merrill F. Fink

TO: Faculty and Staff FROM: Philip L. Patton, Registrar DATE: April 27, 1994 Merrill F. Fink, 83, Registrar Emeritus, died Tuesday, April 19, 1994, at Sartori Memorial Hospital of natural causes. Merrill began his tenure at UNI as an instructor in the English Department in 1946, following his service in the U. S. Navy during World War II. Merrill received his bachelor's degree at Central Michigan State University in 1934 and his master's degree from the University of Michigan in 1940. He joined the Office of the Registrar as an assistant in 1949. He became an associate in 1962, was appointed registrar in 1972, and retired from the University in 1978. During his tenure in the Registrar's Office, Merrill served as President of the Upper Midwest Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers for the years 1959 and 1960. Merrill was a friend to UNI faculty, staff, and students over many years. He maintained his sincere interest in assisting students. He approached his work and his relationship with others with straightforwardness and honesty. Those who worked with and learned from Merrill especially remember his unusual ability to provide focus to confusing and conflicting points of view and information and his skill in developing proposals and solutions balancing detail and brevity. Memorial services were conducted at the First Presbyterian Church on April 23rd. Merrill donated his body to the University of Iowa College of Medicine. Merrill F. Fink, 83, of 1616 Campus Street, died Tuesday, April 19, 1994, at Sartori Memorial Hospital of natural causes. He was born September 24, 1910, in Great Falls, Montana, son of Andrew and Alice Vanauken Fink. He married Ruth Bergeman in 1941 in Story City. Mr. Fink was a U. S. Navy veteran of World War II. He received his bachelor's degree at Central Michigan State University in 1934 and his master's degree from the University of Michigan in 1940. He was an instructor at the University of Northern Iowa from 1946 to 1949, then was registrar from 1949 until retirement in 1978. He was president of the Upper Midwest Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers in 1959 and 1960. Survived by: his wife; two sons, James of Astoria, Oregon, and John of Kalamazoo, Michigan; three grandchildren; two brothers, Andrew James of Federal Way, Washington, and Robert of Ypsilanti, Michigan. Preceded in death by: two brothers, William and John; and a sister, Barbara Durrell. Memorial service: 9:30 a.m. Saturday at First Presbyterian Church. There will be no visitation; his body has been donated to the University of Iowa College of Medicine. Richardson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Copyright Waterloo Courier, April 21, 1994, page A6.