ATLANTA — Nancy Reese-Hall says some souls always make their presence known.

“He’d shout. Dance. Prance up and down. Everywhere he went, he had to have his space,” Reese-Hall said.

She’s talking about Elder Cal Merrell, known far and wide as “The Happy Preacher.”

Some say his calling was to spread joy, often at the saddest of occasions even if he wasn’t on the guest list.

“Whitney Houston’s funeral. Aretha Franklin’s funeral. You name it. He’d just walk in with the entourage. It got to the point in Atlanta that you did not have a special event unless the Happy Preacher was there,” longtime friend Rev. Gerald Durley said.

He would always be playing his trademark tambourine.

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But the Happy Preacher has left us. Merrell passed over the weekend at the age of 72.

Tributes are pouring in to honor him.

“How divine that the Happy Preacher will spend MLK Day in heaven,” former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said.

Rep. Nikema Williams called him an Atlanta legend.

Reese-Hall watched him bring peace for 53 years, even at the funeral of her father.

“You could not be in his presence unless you had laughter, joy and happiness. He knew how to bring it out of you. That was the happy part of the Happy Preacher.”

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