Jaro Hess, an artist originally from Romania, was a long time friend of Merizon, who did numerous studies and paintings of the man. He had so much character physically and was brilliantly intelligent. His paintings were humorous, yet often held ironic meaning. He was the creator of the famous Land of Make Believe, a painting that became an international hit but since Mr Hess sold the copyrights early on, was not able to benefit from the sales.

He was knowledgeable about flowers and had a large garden behind his home on West Leonard, near Grand Rapids, MI.