James “Jim” Clyde Merritt

July 14, 2014

James “Jim” Clyde Merritt, 68, of Bainbridge, GA, passed away Monday, July 14, 2014 at Memorial Hospital.

The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 17, 2014 at

First Baptist Church with Rev. Paul Medley officiating. Graveside service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 19, 2014 at Merritt Cemetery in Dewitt, Arkansas. Active pallbearers will be Charles Lashley, Brian Key, Troy Arthur, Tyler Hutchins, Gordon Hutchins, Wesley Powell, and Cary Dollar.

The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July

16, 2014 at Ivey Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, please make memorial donations to First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 155, Bainbridge, GA 39818 or Lighthouse Children’s Home, 7771 Mahan Dr.,Tallahassee, FL 32309.

Mr. Merritt was born June 24, 1946 in Little Rock, Arkansas, the son of William Clyde Merritt and Eunice Isabelle Wheatley Merritt. Before moving to Bainbridge, he was a manager with Bunge Corporation in Selma, Ala. In Bainbridge, Jim worked as an Extrusion Maintenance Supervisor with Amoco Fabrics for several years and retired as an advertising sales representative with The Post Searchlight. He was a member of First Baptist Church, a charter member of the Bainbridge Bass Club, the Walter C. Dancer Lodge #115 F. & A.M., and he was a Shriner.

Mr. Merritt will be remembered for many things, his heart of gold, and how he would go out of his way to help others will remain at the top of the list. He was an avid outdoorsman who loved to hunt, but his passion was fishing either with friends and family or competitively in local bass tournaments. Jim was proud of his heritage, especially the fact that he was a direct descendant of Davy Crockett.

Survivors include his wife and best friend of 41 years, Sarah Lee Merritt of Bainbridge; his son, William Lee Merritt and his wife, Joanna, of Bainbridge; his brother, Michael Wheatley Merritt and his wife, Diana, of Dewitt, Ark.; and his step- grandchildren, Hunter, and Ashton.

Ivey Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.