Sarah Lee Merritt

January 11, 2018

Sarah Lee Merritt, 68, of Bainbridge, Ga., passed away Thursday, January 11, 2018.

The funeral service will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 14, 2018, at First Baptist Church with Dr. Heath Kahlbau, and Rev. Jean Watson officiating.  Jim Beck, Tommy King, Bruce Kelley, Wesley Pelham, Joseph Hackett and Jay Parker will serve as active pallbearers. Interment will be at Merritt Cemetery in Dewitt, Arkansas.

The family will receive friends immediately following the service. Online visitors may sign the guest register at www.iveyfuneral.com.

Sarah Jo Lee was born March 13, 1949, in McGehee, Arkansas, the daughter of Harry and Emma Lou Dobson Lee. She graduated from high school, attended college and married James Clyde “Jim” Merritt. Sarah and Jim moved from Selma, Ala. to Bainbridge in 1978. She worked at the ASCS office and later at Amoco Fabrics. She was a faithful member of First Baptist Church where she served as secretary for the Hilda Byrd Sunday School Class and helped with the Shoebox Ministry.

She liked to be doted on and was considered a “prissy little thing”. It comes as no surprise that Sarah was once the Queen of The Red Hat Society. This fireball was a woman of many talents. She was an excellent cook and seamstress. She enjoyed participating in Swamp Gravy and playing canasta. Sarah even helped start the library at Grace Christian Academy. She loved big and was described as a great mother, friend and neighbor.

Survivors include her son, William Merritt and his wife, Joanna, of Bainbridge; her grandchildren, Ashton and Hunter; and two she claimed as grandchildren, Erica and Josh. Sarah was preceded in death by her husband, Jim Merritt.