David Spencer Mernick, loving, generous husband and father, passed away May 9, 2025, leaving his family and friends forever missing his joy of life and kindness to all who knew him.
Born Dec. 11, 1952, in Elizabeth, he was the son of William and Edith Mernick of Cranford. In the spring of his sophomore year of high school, the family moved to Fair Haven, where he graduated from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School in 1970. He attended Boston College and Brookdale Community College.
Carpentry was his life’s work. Inspired by his grandfather, Andrew Reid, a skilled woodworker of Warwick, Rhode Island, the two became close roommates when Andrew’s wife, Hettie, died in 1985 and Andrew moved to Fair Haven. They spent countless hours together building toy boats, sailing them in the bathtub and watching “Gunsmoke” on the TV.
David was a longtime resident of Sea Bright before moving to Oceanport in 2001. He married his high school sweetheart and soulmate, Cyndy, on Aug. 20, 2003, at St. John’s on-the-Lake Chapel, Bear Island, New Hampshire. He was a member of the St. John’s Chapel Association Board and loved working on “the little brown church in the vale” for many, many years.
He was a Union carpenter and millwright before going into business by himself. A creative man, he loved woodworking, fabricating stained glass items and carving decoys, as well as playing electric and acoustic guitar. In the 1980s, he was a member of a local band, The Shoal Brothers, singing and playing rhythm guitar. His love of music remained a strong part of his life and he wrote many songs for his beloved daughter, Liz.
David’s passion was boats: Building them, racing them and just poking around the local rivers and Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. He owned many throughout his years, but his favorite was a 1949 Chris-Craft Sportsman named Two Belles.
He loved all aspects of nature, especially living amongst the pines at his island home on Winnipesaukee, but it was meeting new people and telling stories with old friends over a glass of scotch that gave him the most joy.
Surviving are his wife, Cynthia Halsey Mernick of Oceanport; his daughter, Elizabeth Ann Mernick of Oceanport; Cyndy’s children, Brooke, Amanda and Casey Blinebry; a brother and his wife, Andrew and Judith Mernick of Monmouth Beach, and their daughter, Robyn Mernick; his father-in-law, Sandy Halsey of Bluffton, South Carolina; a sister-in-law and her husband, Ann and Stuart Burlingham of Savannah, Georgia; a brother-in-law and his wife, David and Katie Halsey of Edgartown, Massachusetts; many nieces, nephews, cousins and grandchildren; as well as everyone who ever knew and loved him. There is a hole in their hearts and they will miss his laughter and blue eyes every day.
A memorial will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, at Thompson Memorial Home, 310 Broad St., Red Bank. Memorial donations may be made in David’s name to the Lake Winnipesaukee Alliance, P.O. Box 1624, Meredith, NH 03253, an organization dedicated to keeping his lake healthy for generations to come.
The article originally appeared in the May 15 – 21, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
