Fred Mertlich, a beloved resident of Springville and self-taught artist, helps bring historical places to life through his beautiful illustrations. From old local school buildings to classic cars, the cheerful, almost-90-year-old has a unique way of resurrecting the past so current generations can enjoy it. He began drawing historic cars and buildings 26 years ago, and has completed over 570 illustrations since then.
Mertlich has never had an official art lesson, but he hasn’t let that stop him.
“I always sketched and made cartoons and stuff,” he said. “I just taught myself how to do this with alcohol pens. … I’ve always loved beautiful things, so away I went.”
Mertlich was born in 1936 in Cedar City. It was just after the end of the Great Depression, and his parents moved their family of four children frequently in search of work. Despite being a very successful baker at one point, Mertlich’s father chose to pursue farming. The family eventually purchased a 160-acre farm in Southern Idaho, near Burley.
Hoping that joining the service would help him pay for college, Mertlich decided to enlist in the U.S. Navy with one of his high school buddies. He traveled to Bremerton, Washington, where there was a big naval base and a hospital. He was trained as a medic and spent three years in active service, with five years of inactive service. He met his first wife, Aura, in the area.
Though he always liked to draw, Mertlich didn’t take it too seriously until he moved with Aura from Washington to Heber. Just six short months after they moved, Aura sadly passed away. With a gentle smile, Mertlich recalls, “So, there I was, a lonely little petunia in an onion patch. That’s when I began to realize I needed to find something to do.”
During his time of mourning, Mertlich busied himself with art and car restoration, which is something he enjoyed doing in high school. He describes that period of his life as the time when his artistic journey really began.
It was around that same time that Mertlich also “called himself on a mission.” He describes how he walked into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Office Building in Salt Lake City and told the couple sitting inside, “I’d like to serve a mission.” So, he received a one-year mission assignment to help research an initiative to teach “functional literacy” to church members. As part of his mission, Mertlich taught around 1,500 people and brought his findings back to church headquarters. He served faithfully until he was released.
Some time later, Mertlich ran into an old acquaintance from Washington named Suzanne. Mertlich had served in a bishopric with Suzanne’s husband back in Washington, and Suzanne had been Aura’s visiting teacher at the time. After learning that Suzanne’s husband had died, Mertlich recalls getting reacquainted with her and eventually marrying her. “Since then, we have lived happily ever after,” he said, smiling. The couple has 11 kids between them, 49 grandchildren, and 27 great-grandchildren.
Mertlich expresses gratitude for Suzanne and her support.
“She’s a special, special lady and we’ve had a good second marriage, both of us,” he said.
He describes how she supports his love of creating art and restoring old vehicles. She even traveled with him to Idaho and helped him salvage parts from a wrecking yard for the little green Dodge truck he once restored and loved.
In accordance with his love for old things, Mertlich is currently finishing up two separate historic projects involving Heber City. The first project is for the Wasatch County Library in Heber. Mertlich explains that the library historian asked him if he would draw the brand-new Heber library, as well as two historic Heber libraries. He was pleased to accept the project.
One of the historic Heber libraries burned down in 1937, taking with it thousands of books and historical volumes. The other now houses the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (DUP) Museum.
Mertlich says that the library historian is planning to throw him a 90th birthday party in September to thank him for his historic contributions. The library also plans to display a selection of Mertlich’s pictures on its walls.
Mertlich is also working on another project involving Heber City. He was asked to create artwork of the 13 historic Heber schools that no longer exist. He is currently finishing up his last two drawings for this project.
Those who would like to see Mertlich’s art in person can view it in Ream’s Springville Market, and will soon be able to see it on display in the Wasatch County Library in Heber. If you keep your eyes open, you may also see his pictures displayed on local greeting cards, funeral announcements (especially those where the deceased was a classic car enthusiast), and on some of your neighbors’ walls.
At nearly 90 years old, Mertlich has already lived longer than most. Though his life hasn’t always been easy, he tends to gloss over the hard times and linger fondly on the good memories he’s collected over the years. He explains that he “should have” died three separate times, but jokingly says, “They don’t want me yet. I’m not done.”
Mertlich’s final brush with death happened after he had his gallbladder removed two years ago. His kidneys unexpectedly stopped working, prompting doctors to give him just two weeks to live. As someone who knows how to make lemonade out of lemons, Mertlich said, “I called all my family together and said ‘I’ve always wanted to do this. Everybody, come to our home. I’m going to talk at my own funeral.’”
So, Mertlich spoke at his own beautiful funeral service, where he and his loved ones said goodbye to each other. After that, he recounts how his kidneys started to inexplicably recover. He says his nephrologist told him he didn’t know how he survived that, and now jovially refers to him as “Fred, the Energizer Bunny.”
Mertlich says he doesn’t know why he’s still alive, especially since he’s the only man in his family to live so long past 70. But as long as he’s here, he enjoys creating art that other people enjoy.
“I’ve enjoyed doing the work and having somebody enjoy that it was done for them,” he said. “It just makes me feel good.”
Mertlich says he will likely keep making beautiful art until the day he stops kicking, and he encourages anyone else who thinks they may be too old to pick up a new hobby that it is “nevah, nevah, nevah too late!”
