Merritt's marriage to Dorothy Viola Small (d. 2008) produced five children: Mharlyn Merritt, a writer and vocalist who received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Jazz Performance in 1988; Marlon Merritt, an accomplished guitarist and retired career Army veteran of the Iraqi War; Martyn Merritt (deceased), world traveler, bon vivant and classical pianist who studied with internationally acclaimed pianist Leon Bates; Marvon Merritt, percussionist and drummer, and Mike Merritt, a renowned bassist in his own right who has performed and recorded with Levon Helm, Phoebe Snow, Johnny Copeland, BB King and many other world-class musicians. Mike is best known as the bassist for the Basic Cable Band on Conan O'Brien's TBS talk-show. Continuing the family's musical heritage in 2005 Mike co-produced along with his sister Mharlyn an independent CD on the EMerrittus label featuring brother Marlon on guitar, Uri Caine, Al Kooper, Lew Soloff and the Vivino Brothers entitled "Alone Together".