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Merrill's death at 56 made headlines last fall after Brazilian authorities and the FBI connected his disappearance with a burned corpse they had discovered. A woman Merrill had met online and traveled to Brazil to visit faces trial for her role in an alleged plot that involved drugging, robbing and finally killing him.
A man who said he was paid to dispose of the body is also in custody, while two other alleged accomplices remain at large.
Merrill's sister, Marcia Sanchez Loebick of Cleveland, said the memorial service will bring some closure, but it's not enough. "I won't rest until (the perpetrators) are all brought to justice."
The case stands as a stark reminder of the danger of Internet predators, but Loebick said the memorial will focus on the bright side of his life.
"He was a really sensitive person," Sanchez Loebick said. "He was talented, bright, and he marched to the beat of his own drummer. He had a lot of integrity."
Some of his most endearing traits - idealism, credulity, a desire to love and be loved - were used against him by his killers, Sanchez Loebick said. "Because he had a good heart, he assumed that other people did too. He had a tendency to trust people who behaved in a very cordial fashion, and he trusted too quickly."
Friends say Merrill became somewhat reclusive in his last years, spending much of his time fixing up his house on Jenevein Avenue. He dreamed of selling it and spending his retirement in South America, where he had once lived for several years with his wife before getting divorced.
His ex-wife, with whom Merrill kept in close contact, has organized a memorial mass in his honor in Buenos Aires to coincide with the service in San Bruno, Sanchez Loebick said.
With the publicity surrounding Merrill's death have come e-mails and calls to Sanchez Loebick from old friends and Crestmoor High School classmates of Merrill. Many are expected to attend Saturday's service.
The periodic reminders of Merrill's death in the media are painful, Sanchez Loebick said, but she hopes they also ensure that prosecution in the Brazilian legal system happens and serve as a warning to others of the perils of Internet dating.
She'd like to see more safeguards built into online dating services, such as background checks. But for now she urges people to exercise caution before visiting someone they meet on the Web.
The memorial service for Raymond Merrill will be held Saturday, March 24 at 1:30 p.m. at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 1600 Santa Lucia Ave., San Bruno.
Also, Marcia Sanchez Loebick, sister of slain San Bruno resident Raymond Merrill, is creating a petition to urge Brazilian authorities to treat the case seriously. She asks supporters to e-mail her at justice4raymondyahoo.com.
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