Merle Belz Backer

With much sadness and a heavy heart, the family of Merle Belz Backer announces her recent passing. Merle was a devoted and caring mother, loving wife, beloved family member, and cherished friend. Her life was one of giving, love, resilience, and genuine kindness that touched everyone fortunate enough to know her. Merle was 89.

Family was truly the heart of Merle’s existence. She was a source of love to her husband of 60 years, Dr. Bruce H. Backer, and her three children, Marla, Dean, and Robert. She created a home filled with warmth and unwavering support. Her patience was unmatched; it was surely tested many times during the formative teenage years of her rather adventurous children. But they always knew she was their true advocate and a mother who would always love and care for them no matter what. And she did.

Merle was born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 28, 1935. Her parents were Morris and Lillian Belz, and she had two siblings: an older brother, Shepard, and a younger sister, Gail. She grew up in the Gold Coast neighborhood and had fond memories of childhood there, spending time on the family’s boat on Lake Michigan, visiting museums with her mother, and playing with their beloved cocker spaniels.

When Merle was 12 years old in 1948, the family relocated to Memphis, TN, where her Uncle Sam, her father, and his two brothers opened the Sam Belz furniture factory. The factory manufactured high-end mid-century modern furniture that is still highly collectible today.

Merle often shared her memories of playing in the factory on weekends with her cousins and jumping from huge piles of foam rubber blocks used to make cushions. Once, she stapled her cousin Miles’ palm with a button gun! This was a few decades before OSHA.

Merle was an exceptional student and very popular in high school. After graduating from Central High School in Memphis, she attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she was also a member of Sigma Delta Tau sorority.

After college, Merle moved back to Memphis, where she met her future husband, Bruce Backer, on a blind date while he was attending medical school there. They married in 1956, when he graduated from dental school, and promptly moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming - of all places - where Bruce served as a captain in the Air Force. Shortly thereafter, in 1957, their first child, Marla, was born at the hospital on the base, and Merle’s mother, Grandma Lil, made the trek out West to help her with her first child.

Years later, Merle would follow in her mother’s footsteps and travel to Sydney, Australia (twice!) to help Marla with her two infant sons, Spencer and Crater. She also went to San Francisco to welcome Dean’s sons, Sam and Miles.

Robert and Jennifer live in Chattanooga…so their son, Jake, had much of his Mimi’s undivided attention.

In 1959, the small Backer family moved to Chattanooga, where Bruce started his dental practice in East Ridge. Soon after, sons Dean and Robert were born.

Merle’s joy in life was her family. Indeed, she made it her mission to haul the kids to Memphis every summer to spend time with her large and gregarious family there, including countless Passovers and bar and bat mitzvahs. She was also beloved among the extended Backer family, adored by her mother-in-law Mildred, and cherished by her father-in-law Mac, who had a special soft spot for his only “daughter”.

Merle’s professional journey picked up again in 1978 when she decided to become a realtor and then a broker. She worked with her friend and mentor, Peggy Pryor, of Coldwell Banker Pryor Reality, for over 20 years. Her professional accomplishments demonstrate her determination and willingness to take on new challenges.

For some 66 years, Merle was a long-time member and active contributor to the B’nai Zion synagogue in Chattanooga. She served on the executive board as secretary for many years and was also a member of Hadassah and Sisterhood. She was a proud Jewish woman and supporter of Israel. Her faith and its traditions served as her North Star.

Merle always had an active social life with many close friends. One group played mahjong weekly for 50 years!

Merle loved to read and always had a book at hand. She enjoyed listening to Barbara Streisand, Mel Torme (a friend of her brother, Shep), Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Frank Sinatra. She traveled to Israel with her friends and Rabbi Rick (Sherwin) twice, once with her daughter, Marla, in tow (who now admits she had a good time), and to Europe, Alaska, and the Bahamas.

Above all, Merle adored her five grandsons: Sam, Spencer, Carter, Jake, and Miles. She also cherished the memory of her only granddaughter, Jessica.

Merle will be remembered for her radiant heart. The Little Red One was lovely and will be missed by all for the kindness she brought to the world. She made everyone she encountered - especially her family and friends - feel valued and loved. That was her gift to us. Her spirit will live on through all who knew her.

Merle is preceded in death by her husband, Bruce, and her granddaughter, Jessica Lillian Backer.

She is survived by her three children, Marla Brown, Dean (Katy Mooney) Backer, and Robert (Jennifer) Backer, and grandchildren Spencer Brown, Carter Brown, Sam Backer, Miles Backer, and Jake (Hannah) Backer.

A graveside service will be held on Monday, May 12, at 10 a.m. at B Nai’Zion Cemetery (605 Lullwater Road, Chattanooga, Tn 37405) with Rabbi Sam Rotenburg officiating.

You may share condolences with the Backer Family at www.heritagechattanooga.com

Arrangements are by Heritage Funeral Home, 7454 E. Brainerd Road.