03/26/2025

Obituary for Sandra Sue "Sandy" Merz-Vroman

Mother of Mark Merz, CFSP, OFDA Past President, and Edwin "Mick" Merz, Funeral Director at Thomas I. Wisniewski Funeral Home

Sandra Sue “Sandy” Merz-Vroman, age 83, of Walbridge died Monday, March 24, 2025, at Bay Park Community Hospital. She was born in Toledo on September 3, 1941, to Virginia Mae Wetzel and Clarence Shumaker.  Sandy was a 1959 graduate of Rossford High School where she was a varsity cheerleader. When she was young, she was a horse enthusiast that enjoyed showing horses and riding alongside her parents. In 1980 she met the love of her life, Harold J. Vroman and they were married on July 10, 1987. Harold and Sandy traveled the United States extensively in the summers and frequented almost every state. Most recently, they enjoyed several trips to Hawaii with their son and daughter-in-law, Mick and Bethany. She was a voracious reader who enjoyed riding her bike and gardening alongside her husband. 

Sandy retired from Rossford High School where she worked in the Nurse’s office for 27 years, retiring in 2001. During that time, she served as an OAPSE Union Steward and in 1989 she was the recipient of the RHS Gladieux award which honored outstanding employees who demonstrated strong character. In 1995 she started working at Witzler-Shank Funeral Homes alongside her oldest son, Mick and later her youngest son, Mark joined them. It was here she found a second passion, helping for over 30 years those families who had experienced the loss of someone they loved. She would often be found in the office answering phones or receiving families at the front door. At their Walbridge location, she was fondly referred by many as the “Mayor” of Walbridge because nothing ever slipped by her.  Sandy helped in organizing many Walbridge community events, such as Walbridge Fest and Music in the Park at Friendship Park in Lake Twp, but her favorite event was the Carefree senior bus trips she organized where she and her husband enjoyed creating lots of long-lasting friendships. 

She was often quoted as saying “As a single mom, my crowning achievements in life were raising my two sons, Mick and Mark, both of whom graduated from college.”  

She was preceded in death by her parents, Clarence and Virginia Wetzel Shumaker; her loving and doting husband, Harold J. “Papa” Vroman who preceded her in death on January 30, 2024, along with her aunt, Mary Shumaker on October 28, 2024. 

She is survived by her sons, Mick (Bethany) and Mark (Dr. Jerome Webster) Merz as well as by her special aunt, Margy Ann Jackson. 

Friends and family will be received on Sunday, March 30, 2025, from 2:00 – 7:00 P.M. at Thomas I. Wisniewski Funeral Home, 2426 N. Reynolds Road, Toledo, Ohio 43615 (419-531-4424) where funeral services will be held on Monday, March 31, 2025, at 10:30 A.M. with Pastor Marty Pennington, officiating. A burial will follow in Fort Meigs Union Cemetery, Perrysburg, Ohio.