Merlyn Mantle, 77, the widow of New York Yankees baseball star Mickey Mantle, died Monday from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. Mickey died of liver cancer in 1995.
Merlyn’s obituary in Newsday has an excerpt of interest to Route 66 fans:
Mickey and Merlyn met two years before he debuted in the major leagues, while both were still in high school. Mickey attended Commerce High School in northeast Oklahoma, an archrival of Picher High School, where Merlyn was a cheerleader. The Mantles’ first date was a movie along Route 66 in Miami, Okla.
I would have bet that the movie theater where they had their first date was here. As it turns out, MLB.com confirms it was.
The Mick’s roots on Route 66 ran pretty deep. He was raised in the Route 66 town of Commerce, and he played a lot of ball in the nearby Route 66 town of Baxter Springs, Kan., before being signed by the Yankees.
Merlyn will be buried next to her husband at a cemetery in Dallas.