Merrill Avner Stringer, Jr., 84, of Orange, passed away on May 25, 2022, at Harbor Hospice in Beaumont.

Funeral services will be 2:00 p.m., Sunday, June 5, 2022, at Claybar Funeral Home in Orange. Officiating will be Brother Lynn Ashcraft. Burial will follow at Orange Forest Lawn Cemetery in Orange.

Visitation will be at 12:00 p.m., Sunday, June 5, at Claybar Funeral Home in Orange.

Born in Port Arthur, Texas, on October 9, 1937, he was the son of Merrill (Bud) Stringer, Sr., and Pauline (Sheppard) Stringer. He was a proud 1957 graduate of Lutcher Stark High School. After graduation, he served in the United States Army and retired as a Supervisor from Dupont – Sabine River Works. He was incredibly talented in several different areas. Merrill took up an interest in cars as one of his hobbies. He was a great Mechanic who had the capability to build a racecar from the ground up. He was a master BBQer by many definitions holding the title of 1982 Orange County BBQ Champion which qualified his team to compete at the 1983 World Championship BBQ Cookoff at the Astrodome during the Houston Rodeo. Merrill not only cooked on the pit but could design in detail and then build the pit, and as a Master Barbeque Pit Builder he proved just that by building over 50. His favorite things to cook were Super Burgers (which he created with his own secret recipe) and brisket. He was not only extremely gifted, he was an equally generous, kind man who would give the shirt off his back for anyone he met.

He was preceded in death by his son, Sterlin Wade Stringer, grandson, Colin Wade Stringer parents, Pauline and Merrill (Bud) Stringer, Sr., brother, Larry Stringer, his father-in-law and mother-in-law Morgan and June Hamilton, brothers-in-law Robert Glenn Hamilton, Glenn Sanders and nephews Rob and Clay Hamilton.

He is survived by his loving wife of almost 65 years, June Ann Stringer; daughter, Dena Alaine Stringer of Gaithersburg, MD; grandchild, Lauren Nicole Stringer of Beaumont; great-grandson, Jackson Wade Johnston; brothers, James David Stringer and wife Barbara of Orange, and Tacky Stringer and wife Diane of Hemphill, sisters-in-law Barbara Stringer (Larry), Gail Hamilton (Glenn) and several nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

Serving as pallbearers will be nephews: William Hamilton, Lee Stringer, Lance Stringer, Tracy Stringer, Steve Nesbit, and friend David Weaver. Honorary pallbearers are Suzie Stringer Nesbit, Jimmy Stringer, Pete Brown, Quincy Procell, Frank Rach and Van Choate.

The family would like to thank the staff at Christus St. Elizabeth and Harbor Hospice for their care of Dad before his passing and his doctors: Dr. William Ondo his Parkinson’s specialist in Houston and his internists, Dr. Wesley Palmer of Bridge City and Dr. David Cox from Orange who now practices in College Station.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to American Parkinson’s Disease Association at www.APDAParkinson.org .