Merle Milaena Sanderson was born in San Francisco on June 20 1945 in an apartment in the Yugoslavian neighborhood of the city. Merle’s father owned a carpet and floor covering business. She spent most of her time as a young child with her baba (grandmother on her mothers side of the family) in a household where Croatian was the dominant spoken language. 

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As a child Merle experienced asthma from the pollution in the city. To remedy this the family moved to the house in Atherton when Merle was seven years old. She attended catholic elementary school at Sacred Heart in Menlo Park and Notre Dame High School in Belmont.

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During her teenage years, Merle won the Young Poets Award at the state fair in Sacramento and was invited to join the chaparral poets. While at Notre Dame she studied art under the guidance of Jackie White and Kenneth Washburn. As a teenager and young adult she moved among the beat poets such as Ginsburg, Ferlinghetti and Kenneth Patchen. In her young adulthood, she briefly studied at San Jose State and worked at Stanford Research Institute. At the age of 18 she opened her own business, “Sandals And”, making custom made sandals and leather clothing in Palo Alto.

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In the early 60s, Merle met her future husband, John Osborne on a scaffolding plank while installing a very large sculpture by Kenneth Washburn. According to John, she immediately took his breath away! For the first few years, their love grew as a close friendship. In 1968, they confessed their attraction and by 1969, Merle moved from Los Altos, CA, to New Bedford Massachussats to live with John. In 1972 Merle married her life partner, John Osborne at Acocsett Point at sunrise on the 22nd September on the top of the rock outcrop at the entrance of the Westport river.

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Now located on the east coast, Merle designed and made leather clothing which she sold at Henri Bendel in New York City. She curated the Crapo Gallery in New Bedford and had an exhibition of her garments and textile work there in 1973. Merle graduated from Swain School of Design with a BFA in graphic design and opened a design agency, Millstreet Associates. 

 

In 1980, Merle’s first child, Zoe was born. In 1984, her second child, Phoebe was born. Shortly thereafter, Merle and John and the kids drove across the country back to Atherton, California to be close to her family. Back on the west coast, Merle worked as a designer for Wadsworth Publishing and later as design director of Oracle Software. 

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In 1993 Merle departed from corporate work environments to open Millstreet Interiors & Antiques, a smashingly successful shop in downtown Menlo Park. Merle and John continued to live in the Bay Area until 2003 when they relocated to San Diego to live near Zoe and their grandchild, Connor. Five years later, they made an adventurous move to Kent, UK. They lived and worked in Centuries, a building originally built in 1107. For the following six years, they ran a luxury bed & breakfast, organized an archeological dig in the cellar, and built a strong and vibrant community in the town. 

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In 2015, missing Zoe and the grandkids (along with the unparalleled California weather), Merle and John sold Centuries and returned once more to California. This time they lived in the coastal town of Escondido. There, kissed by the sun and salty ocean air, Merle spent her final years living joyously as a grandmother to Zoe’s two children, Connor and Grace. 

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Merle Milaena Sanderson died peacefully on May 3rd in Oceanside, CA. She lived a tremendously creative life as a multi-faceted artist, including raising two beautiful children alongside her lifelong partner and best friend, John Osborne. With profound love and care, we will miss her dearly.