Valley Health Public Safety Officer Kevin Breeden talks about his friend Merlin the cat during a memorial service for the feline Tuesday at 333 W. Cork St. in Winchester.
Photographs of Merlin adorn the copier paper box in which he slept inside 333 W. Cork St.
Elizabeth Craig, 6, of Winchester brought a picture she drew showing her and Merlin the cat together.
Nancy Baker, right, of Winchester, talks about her beloved 13-year-old cat, Merlin, during his memorial service Tuesday in front of the old hospital in Winchester, a building which he frequented on his travels around town.
A cedar box holds the ashes of Merlin the cat sits on a table along with his portrait during a memorial service for him Tuesday.
Valley Health employees who knew Merlin the cat due to his frequent visits to their building bow their heads as Blue Ridge Hospice Chaplain Rev. Ken Patrick presents a St. Francis of Assisi prayer during a memorial service for the feline on Tuesday. From left are Carol Quasney, chronic disease research center technician, Kevin Breeden, security officer, Barbara Beydler, billing clerk and Cathy Williams, billing clerk.
Valley Health Public Safety Officer Kevin Breeden talks about his friend Merlin the cat during a memorial service for the feline Tuesday at 333 W. Cork St. in Winchester.
Photographs of Merlin adorn the copier paper box in which he slept inside 333 W. Cork St.
Elizabeth Craig, 6, of Winchester brought a picture she drew showing her and Merlin the cat together.
Nancy Baker, right, of Winchester, talks about her beloved 13-year-old cat, Merlin, during his memorial service Tuesday in front of the old hospital in Winchester, a building which he frequented on his travels around town.
A cedar box holds the ashes of Merlin the cat sits on a table along with his portrait during a memorial service for him Tuesday.
Valley Health employees who knew Merlin the cat due to his frequent visits to their building bow their heads as Blue Ridge Hospice Chaplain Rev. Ken Patrick presents a St. Francis of Assisi prayer during a memorial service for the feline on Tuesday. From left are Carol Quasney, chronic disease research center technician, Kevin Breeden, security officer, Barbara Beydler, billing clerk and Cathy Williams, billing clerk.
More than 50 people came together late Wednesday afternoon to say farewell to a beloved Winchester resident, Merlin the cat.
“He was a friend that brought so much joy and peace to so many lives,” Blue Ridge Hospice Chaplain Ken Patrick said at the start of Merlin’s memorial service in front of the former Winchester Memorial Hospital at 333 W. Cork St. “Merlin’s kind presence helped many get through trying times in life.”
Most cats don’t get public funerals, but Merlin wasn’t most cats. He was a happy wanderer who felt right at home wherever he was — hanging out on neighborhood porches, sneaking inside homes and cars, visiting the staff and patrons at Cork Street Tavern, even sleeping in the beds of some of the people he encountered.
Merlin’s favorite destination was the old hospital on Cork Street, which now houses the offices of Blue Ridge Hospice, Valley Health‘s Winchester Rehabilitation Center and the Northern Shenandoah Valley chapter of the nonprofit Foundation for Rehabilitation Equipment and Endowment (FREE). Several workers there said he figured out how to look both ways before crossing the street, use a crosswalk, trip the automatic doors to the building and ride the elevator to visit workers and patients on every floor of the eight-story structure.
Merlin was always welcome at the facility. Employees throughout the building knew his name and gave him cuddles and treats. At least one office worker brought in a litter box and bed for him, and others took turns hosting a “cat condo” — a cardboard box with a blanket and toys in it where Merlin enjoyed taking naps.
“I am just unbelievably overwhelmed that so many people loved Merlin,” his owner, Nancy Baker, said as she told attendees that her full-grown but youthful cat became a social butterfly immediately after her family moved to a house near the former hospital on Christmas Eve 2020.
Baker said there were days when she and her family received as many as 10 phone calls from concerned people who encountered Merlin and didn’t know about his vagabond lifestyle.
“’Oh, your poor kitty. He may be lost. I think he’s hungry,’” Baker recalled as attendees at the memorial service laughed. “He knew how to work people.”
Merlin died of cancer on June 21, just two months shy of his 13th birthday, and Baker took the unusual steps of publishing an obituary for him in The Winchester Star and creating a page on Facebook so members of the community would know why he stopped visiting.
Baker also decided to hold a memorial service so Merlin’s friends could grieve together. Mourners gathered Wednesday beneath the trees in front of the old hospital to share stories about the kitty while standing around a small table with pictures of Merlin, his “cat condo” and other treasured possessions, and a small wooden box containing his ashes.
One of the mourners was Kevin Breeden, a security guard at 333 W. Cork St. who said he treasured Merlin’s daily visits.
“Every morning, we had a routine,” Breeden said, explaining that Merlin would follow him to a room where he had a bowl of food. “I let him in, he stopped — I had to turn all the lights on. He’d get to the corner [and] look back because if I tried to leave, he wouldn’t go eat. I had to walk him to the food dish. ... He was special and I miss him greatly.”
Retired Virginia Avenue Charlotte DeHart Elementary School Principal Nan Bryant said she frequently encountered Merlin as she walked the neighborhood. One afternoon, she saw him go through both sets of doors at the main entrance to 333 W. Cork St., so Bryant decided to follow him.
“He was running down the hall and I was running after him because I thought, ‘He’s gonna get lost in here,’” Bryant said with a laugh. “I picked him up and I saw his address [on his collar], and I walked him to his porch.”
On the way to Baker’s house, Bryant said she ran into some neighborhood residents who knew Merlin and told her about his gallivanting lifestyle.
Young Mattie Wagner and her brother, Liam Wagner, came to the service to present Baker with a drawing Mattie made of the gray cat.
“The first time I saw Merlin, he runs through our door,” said Liam, who is one of Baker’s neighbors. “He did that a ton until we got a dog.”
Winchester Rehabilitation Center employee Julie Larrick said Merlin’s visits to her building were especially appreciated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So many people were working from home and I found it a kind of desolate place at times,” Larrick said. “With Merlin, it kind of made me feel like I had a friend there. It was nice.”
Another of Merlin’s buddies at Winchester Rehabilitation Center was employee Heather Shelton. When she first became acquainted with him, she wasn’t sure if he went home each evening to sleep. On one particularly cold winter’s night, Shelton said she was so worried about Merlin’s welfare that she took him home with her.
“After a quick stop at the pet store for litter and some food, we got to my place where Merlin promptly took a lap around my apartment and decided it was great, then plopped down on my bed,” Shelton said. “We had a grand ol’ night and went back to work the next day.”
Shelton was unaware that Baker had bought a tracking device for Merlin’s collar so she could keep tabs on him. On the morning after Shelton took him home, Baker checked the tracking app on her phone and discovered something very odd.
“Merlin ... is going down [Interstate] 81 South really fast, and then Merlin’s on Cork Street,” Baker said as attendees laughed. “So I hop in the car, I drive down Cork Street and then he’s here.”
“After that is when we had the pleasure of getting to know Nancy and her sons, who would pick him up from his daycare-slash-work in the afternoon when his workday was over,” Shelton said.
As Wednesday’s memorial service concluded, Baker gave the wooden box containing Merlin’s ashes to his friends who work at 333 W. Cork St.
“He needs to be over here where he loved being,” she said as she handed the box to Breeden.
“This is the first time I’ve ever held him that he didn’t fuss at me,” Breeden joked.
Baker said Merlin and his loving, compassionate nature will be missed — not just by her family, but all of downtown Winchester.
“It’s amazing how one little furry creature could bring so many people together,” she said.
Those who want to honor Merlin are asked to make donations in his name to the Community Cat Alliance, P.O. Box 2611, Winchester, Va. 22604, or the SPCA of Winchester, Frederick and Clarke Counties, 111 Featherbed Lane, Winchester, Va. 22601. To learn more about Merlin and his many friends, visit his Facebook page at https://bit.ly/3B57AlZ.
Most cats don't get public funerals, but Merlin wasn't most cats. He was a happy wanderer who felt right at home wherever he was — hanging out on neighborhood porches, sneaking inside homes and cars, visiting the staff and patrons at Cork Street Tavern, even sleeping in the beds of some of the people he encountered. His favorite destination was the old hospital on Cork Street, which now houses several offices. Several workers there said he figured out how to look both ways before crossing the street, use a crosswalk, trip the automatic doors to the building and ride the elevator to visit workers and patients on every floor of the eight-story structure.
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