By Suzanne Hodgson
Staff Writer

The Rev. Ruth Merriam once got stopped by police crossing the Berlin Wall in Germany during the 1970s, has worked alongside Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India, and is now an official “Great Person.”
Kennebunk Post readers chose Merriam as the paper’s Great Person for 2009 from a field of eight candidates.
 “I don’t know if I’m a great person,” said Merriam, “I’m a grateful person.”
Merriam has left her mark on the community in many ways since she was assigned to the Church on the Cape in Cape Porpoise and moved to Kennebunk eight years ago.
She also has many different roles besides leading her congregation. One of her favorites is displayed on her car with a special “Fire Chaplain” license plate.
 “It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done,” said Merriam. She was asked to be the chaplain by the fire chief for Goose Rocks Beach. “It’s a huge blessing,” she said.
While she doesn’t actually use a hose to extinguish the fires, Merriam can cross the police lines and talk to fire victims or anyone in need of support.
She carries warm jackets and teddy bears in the back of her car. They’re donated to the Fire Rescue at Goose Rocks, so nothing she gives out needs to be returned.
Merriam also helps by going on coffee runs for both the firefighters and fire victims.
Once, when Merriam was at Winks in Arundel, a cashier who’d heard the sirens asked if the coffee was for the firefighters. When Merriam said yes, he donated three boxes of muffins and lots of coffee.
“It’s experiences like that I couldn’t have otherwise,” said Merriam.
Merriam also was on hand earlier this year when Tim Donovan was trapped under a boulder that came loose on the banks of the Mousam River in Kennebunk.
“I saw him just this morning coming in for his a.m. cup of coffee,” said Merriam. “He’s a walking miracle; just seeing him, there’s no way possible I thought he’d survive.”
Another blessing in Merriam’s life was the chance to work alongside Mother Teresa, the Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India.
“It was incredible to say the least,” said Merriam. “ I really wanted in my lifetime to see a saint.”
Around Halloween in 1980 while Merriam was studying to become a minister she was moved by watching Mother Teresa on television.
“She was saying ‘You don’t need to come to a poor country to help, visit with your neighbors,’” said Merriam who admits she was upset. “I wanted to go to Calcutta.”
Merriam wrote a letter to Mother Teresa and that January learned she was invited to live in the Calcutta convent for nine weeks with Mother Teresa and the sisters.
“I was afraid she could see every sin,” said Merriam.
Growing up in Minnesota, Merriam’s father was a Methodist minister and Merriam dreamed of becoming either a nun or a pastor’s wife.
At the church, Merriam spent her time folding bulletins and taking organ lessons.
“I find PK’s [Pastors Kids] either love it or hate it,” said Merriam, “I kind of loved it.”
When she grew up and learned that Methodist Church didn’t have nuns and becoming a pastor’s wife wasn’t guaranteed, she went to college at Wells University in New York in 1968.
During her sophomore year, Merriam was a German major and decided to go to Hindenburg and travel throughout Europe. At the time Merriam said she was so happy she didn’t want to come home, so she transferred to Schiller International University at one of its international campuses.
At Schiller she studied European history and political science in Madrid, Paris and Berlin, where the Berlin Wall was visible from her front steps.
“Berlin changed my perspective,” said Merriam.
“Our class took a bus drive into East Berlin. At the wall we were stopped and we waited and waited and waited, in everybody’s mind we were thinking, ‘are we going to get over it?’” said Merriam.
The group of American students eventually did cross the Berlin wall and once on the other side, Merriam says the group began to sing “God Bless America.”’
When Merriam returned to America in 1973, she began studying for her master’s in special education at Lesley College.
While working alongside a 3-year-old dying of leukemia in a case study called “Listen to the Dying,” Merriam was confronted with her faith.
“I met with the mother and she wanted to know if there was something else for his life than death,” said Merriam. “She wanted to talk about if there was another place.”
At that time Merriam realized that being a teacher in a public school meant she could not talk openly about her faith. She decided she wanted to be somewhere where she could help people using her religion.
After graduating from Lesley, Merriam began her Masters of Divinity at Yale Divinity School in September, before moving on to Boston University to receive her doctorate of ministry in 1987.
Merriam continues to travel on missionary trips. This year marks the fourth year her family will go to clinics in Guatemala with Partners in Development, a foundation helping the extremely poor.
Merriam and her husband, Richard, also sponsor five children from Haiti and Guatemala through the organization Children International. The children receive clothing, medical care and education through donations made by the family.
Tony and Nancy Viehmann, attendees at Merriam’s Church, nominated her for this year’s Great Person. The couple describes Merriam as having “exuberance and genuine caring for all people,” and as a “beacon of hope in our community.”
Merriam has advice for those looking to live as a “great person.”
“Keep your eyes open to the quality of things you love like selflessness, joy, patience, all those virtues. Look for those in other people. You get what you seek,” she said.

Staff Writer Suzanne Hodgson can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.