Methods and circuitry are present for executing current memory operation while other multiple pending memory operations are queued. Furthermore, when certain conditions are satisfied, some of these memory operations are combinable or mergeable for improved efficiency and other benefits. The management of the multiple memory operations is accomplished by the provision of a memory operation queue controlled by a memory operation queue manager. The memory operation queue manager is preferably implemented as a module in the state machine that controls the execution of a memory operation in the memory array.