[1] In 1972, she joined the Captain James Allen Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution as a junior member.

[4] She was the West Virginia Outstanding Junior Member in 1982 and served as a personal page to DAR President General Patricia Walton Shelby.

[4] On June 30, 2006, she presented U.S. Marine Corps General Peter Pace with the Patriot Award during a ceremony at DAR Constitution Hall.

[5][6] That same year, Merritt dedicated a historical marker in the gardens of the Casa de América in Madrid that commemorated Spain's aid in the American Revolutionary War.

[2] She married Joel Morris Wagoner, a dentist from Liberty, North Carolina, at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Beckley, West Virginia.