Joseph Mayer Mertz passed away peacefully at home in San Angelo, Texas, on October 21, 2025. He was a kind, happy, true gentleman, husband, and father with a wide circle of friends.
Joe was born prematurely in St. John’s Hospital in San Angelo on September 12, 1925, to Len and Ernestine Mayer Mertz, both from early-day ranching and banking families. Joe graduated from San Angelo High School in 1941. He entered Texas A&M as a fifteen-year-old. While there, he was fortunate to captain the polo team beginning in his sophomore year 1942-1943. He served in the Army First Cavalry Division, Philippine Islands, and at one time in his World War II military service was the youngest commissioned officer during war time. He returned to Texas A&M and graduated in 1947 with a BS degree in Animal Husbandry.
Joe had a lifelong relationship with horses. He played his first professional polo game at fourteen years old at the Pecos Rodeo, July 4, 1940. In 1949, Joe and his brother Mort won the Southwestern Intra-Circuit Championship at San Antonio, the same tournament their father, Len, had won in 1932. They played all their matches astride their father’s ranch-raised polo ponies. Horses, and polo in particular, would remain his favorite sporting interest.
In 1949, Joe and Mort purchased a ranch near Pie Town, New Mexico, which became Joe’s home until 1967. In 1955 he married Marilyn Johnston in the old Sacred Heart Church in San Angelo. As an artist, Marilyn brought out his creative side, and each encouraged the others’ talent. They made the New Mexico ranch an oasis for themselves and their three daughters, despite the challenges of a seasonally harsh environment at 7,800 feet elevation and extreme distance to the grocery store. They formed an enduring friendship with the Navajo family who worked alongside them and immersed themselves in Native American culture and New Mexico history. Joe and Marilyn also volunteered with the board of New Mexico Cattle Growers. Joe was involved with the Federal Land Bank of New Mexico and later became president of the Federation of FLBA of Colorado and New Mexico.
In 1967, Joe and Marilyn returned to their hometown of San Angelo and began ranching in southeastern Tom Green County, later adding Irion County while living in San Angelo, and becoming active in Texas agricultural affairs and the local community.
Joe was a founding director of Southwest Bank of San Angelo, president of the Federal Land Bank of San Angelo, and a director of the Farm Credit Bank of Texas. He was a director on the 1982 Governor’s Task Force on Agriculture, past president of Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers Association, a director of the American Sheep Producers Council, and the National Wool Growers Association.
In 1980 Joe was named Citizen of the Year by the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce/Board of City Development. He was a president of the Chamber of Commerce, United Way, and the Historic Orient Santa Fe Depot Restoration among other organizations. He served St. John’s Hospital and the ASU Foundation as a trustee.
Joe gave back to his alma mater, Texas A&M University, as president of the local West Texas A&M Club and member of the Development Council of the School of Animal and Life Sciences. He was recognized in 1980 for distinguished service to the university as a member of the Target 2000 Task Force planning for the future of TAMU. The family brand from his Tom Green County ranch is in the university’s Kleberg Center.
From showing club calves and lambs in his youth, Joe had a lifelong involvement with the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo Association, making many friends through the years. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, Joe took an active role on the association board as steer show Superintendent since the late 1960s, as board president in 1983, and later receiving the Golden Spur award in 2025.
He shared his love and knowledge of history, cultures, nature, ranching, raising livestock, horsemanship, identifying plant life, native and invasive species, and wildlife. One of Joe’s fondest community involvements was as an honorary member of the 117th Technical Training Support Center at Goodfellow Air Force Base as he took international students on ranch tours to welcome them to West Texas, sharing his love of the land with trainees from across the globe.
Joe is a fourth-generation parishioner of The Cathedral Church of the Sacred Heart and former president of the parish council.
Preceding Joe in death are his wife, Marilyn Johnston Mertz, and his brother, Mort Mertz. He is survived by his three daughters, Katie and husband Gary Johnson, Margaret and husband Bill Iott, and Joan M. Mertz; four grandchildren, Joe Johnson, Molly and husband TJ Turk, Mary and husband Danny McGiffin, and Bryan Buechler; eight great grandsons, Parker Turk, Brendan, David, Matthew, James, Finn, Daniel, and Luke McGiffin, and one great-granddaughter, Ava McGiffin. His sister-in-law Madolyn Mertz also survives him, as well as his dear niece, nephews, cousins, and their families. We are thankful for our father’s long and fruitful life.
The Rosary will be Tuesday, October 28, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. at The Cathedral Church of the Sacred Heart, San Angelo, Texas, followed by the Funeral Mass at 10:00 a.m. at the Cathedral with Monsignor Larry Droll officiating. Burial will follow at Fairmount Cemetery, San Angelo, Texas. Memorials may be made to Fort Concho National Historic Landmark, Friends of Fairmount Cemetery, or WTRC’s Hospice of San Angelo.
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