He was born on a farm in Tedrow, Ohio, on May 1, 1916, the seventh of the fifteen children of David Merillat (1868-1943) and his wife, née Emma Jane McCallum (1886-1946).
In the 1940 Census he was living in Dover Township, Fulton County, Ohio, and his occupation was given as carpenter.
[1] He married Ruth Meller[2] on January 19, 1941, and served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II.
Orville retired when the business was sold in 1985 to the Masco Corporation, and his son then became the President of Merillat Industries.
He received an honorary doctorate degree from Huntington College and was the co-author of his autobiography "His Guiding Hand" published by Coral Ridge Ministries in 1992.