Glynn County GaArchives Obituaries.....Mercer, Joseph Buford Dr. December 12, 1964 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Amy Hedrick http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00013.html#0003209 November 4, 2005, 6:42 pm 12 December 1964; The Brunswick News; pg. 12 cols. 1&2 Mayor is Killed Near Waycross; Dr. Mercer, Traveling Alone, Dies in Grinding 2- Car Crash         Dr. Joseph B. Mercer, nearing the end of his first year as mayor of Brunswick, was killed in a grinding head-on collision 12 miles west of Waycross on U.S. 82 at noon today.         The State Patrol said the highway had not been cleared of the impact- welded wreckage 1 1/2 hours after the collision which also killed the other driver, Carl Clinton Williams of Jacksonville.         Dr. Mercer was traveling alone to a medical meeting at Albany.         Dr. Mercer, 39, was elected to the City Commission to fill the unexpired term of Congressman J. Russell Tuten and became the first man to win election to the post of mayor-commissioner at large after its enactment in the General Assembly.         Dr. Mercer prided himself on never once missing a City Commission meeting despite the pressures of a busy medical practice.  Although his accomplishments were many in his brief span of public service, City Manager H.B. Lovvorn summed up his vigorous leadership thusly:  "He was noted for the ability to get things done, some of which had been in the talking stage for a long time."         Dr. Mercer was en route to a council meeting of the Medical Assn. of Georgia of which he was a member.  he also was a member of the American Academy of General Practice and president-elect of the Medical College of Georgia Alumni Assn.         A native of Jasper Co., Ga., Dr. Mercer came here 12 years ago.         Among survivors are his wife, Kathryn; a son, Steve, and a daughter, Paige.         He was associated in medical practice with Drs. W.O. Inman and Willard Snyder and resided on Parkwood Drive.         His wife recently pictured Dr. Mercer's three great devotions as his family, medicine and public service with little time for rest and virtually none for recreational pursuits.         Funeral arrangements will be announced later by Edo Miller and Sons Funeral Home. Great Loss is Reaction of Stunned City; All will Miss Him, Taylor Says; Old Friends Call         News of Mayor Mercer's tragic death evoked a stunned reaction from city leaders and the man on the street.         "We were very close," said Commissioner Harry Long.  "I just heard about it a minute ago, and this thing's got me all shook up. It's so great a loss.  I'm awfully upset.  he (Mayor Mercer) jut meant so much to all of us, not only as mayor but as a personal friend.  I was with him only yesterday.  He was young.  It's an unbelievably great loss."         Commissioner Clyde A. Taylor called Mercer's loss "awfully bad and very regrettable.  The whole city will miss him greatly.  He was an ideal man for this time of the city's growth.  He was a dedicated doctor and did a great amount of charity work.  he was most highly though of in all endeavors.  It was a pleasure to work with him.  We'll all miss him greatly.  He was always so considerate of us as commissioner.  It's a great loss.  He was so able, kind and thoughtful.  He gave too much of his time to others.         City Attorney Bernard N. Nightingale hadn't heard about the fatal head- on crash until he was reached by phone just after 2 p.m.  "Oh, I'm so sorry," he said.  "It's a terrific calamity.  I sympathize with his family."         Old friends called to find out the details and express their sense of loss.  Felix Cox, personnel supervisor at Hercules Powder Col, who as a director of the American Cancer Society's chapter here worked with the mayor at meetings of the group, said it was "very saddening to know of (his) death and loss." Monday 14 December 1964; pg. 12 col. 1 & pg. 3 col. 2 City Flags Fly Half Staff as Rites Are Held; Municipal Building Fete Postponed In Mercer Memory         City flags flew at half staff today and Wednesday's scheduled dedication of the newly remodeled Municipal Building was postponed as residents here paid tribute to Mayor Joseph Buford Mercer, victim of a head-on collision 10 miles west of Waycross on Saturday.         Funeral services for Dr. Mercer, 39, were held today at 11 a.m. at the First Baptist Church with the Rev. Jack P. Lowndes, pastor, officiating.         Members of the City and County Commissions, the Glynn County Medical Society and the Glynn County Dental Society provided an honorary escort.         Dr. Mercer was a graduate of the University of Georgia and was graduated from the Medical College of Georgia in 1951.  He served his internship at the City Hospital of Columbus and practiced at the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Hospital in Waycross before moving here to establish practice in 1953.         He was past president of the Glynn County Medical Society, a member of the Medical Assn. of Georgia council, the American Medical Assn., a past president of the Georgia chapter of the American Academy of General Practice, former vice speaker of the medical Assn. of Georgia House of Delegates, a member of the Georgia Medical Political Action Committee and president-elect of the Medical College of Georgia Alumni Assn.  He was active in local health agencies and participated in a drive to establish a cancer clinic here.         Dr. Mercer was a member of the Brunswick Rotary Club, Ocean Lodge Masons and the First Baptist Church.         In addition to his wife and two children, Dr. Mercer is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Paul Sluka, Desputante, Va., and Mrs. Pete Cline, Mobile, Ala.; and an uncle, Dr. Joe Mercer of Vidalia.         Active pallbearers were Dr. E.R. Jennings, Hugh K. Tollison, Roy Smith, Euclid Lewis, W.B. Lewis, Jimmy George, H.B. Lovvorn, Dr. Bert Malone and Congressman J. Russell Tuten.         Burial followed in Palmetto Cemetery under the direction of the Edo Miller & Sons Funeral Home. Monday 14 December 1964; pg. 12 col. 1 Mercer Works Will Continue Minster Says         "Dr. Joe Mercer is dead but his works will live on," the Rev. Jack P. Lowndes, pastor of the First Baptist Church, said today in funeral services for the late mayor.         Mr. Lowndes pictured Dr. Mercer as a dedicated man of convictions who was not afraid to act on his beliefs.         In his public service and physical healing careers, Dr. Mercer touched hundreds of lives and will be recalled by all in cherished memories of their individual interludes with him, the minister said.         A church official estimated that 800 persons attended the funeral, filling the auditorium, annex and balcony with only standing room remaining.  Additional friends of Dr. Mercer were on hand at graveside in Palmetto Cemetery.         Despite a request from the family that contributions be made to the Glynn-Brunswick Memorial Hospital Trust Fund in lieu of flowers, more than 100 floral tributes were sent.         Johnny Wilson, president of Edo Miller & Sons Funeral Home, described the turnout as the largest for a funeral in his career as a mortician.         The Glynn Academy Red Terrors football team appeared at the funeral in a body in respect to Dr. Mercer, one of their most avid boosters in the past championship season and himself a former football player for the University of Georgia. Monday 14 December 1964; pg. 12 col. 2 Car Which Hit Mercer Vehicle 'All Over Road'         The automobile of a Jacksonville Naval Air Station mechanic which crashed head-on into a car carrying Dr. Joseph B. Mercer, killing both drivers, had run two cars and a truck off U.S. 82 before swerving into Dr. Mercer's westbound lane, according to investigating state troopers.         In their report of the noontime accident 10 miles west of Waycross, Cpl. D.M. Griffin and Trooper W.E. Peacock of the Waycross State Patrol post quoted a witness, Nelson Pruitt, Jr., as saying he was driving behind the eastbound car of Carl Clinton Williams, 50, and Williams was "driving all over the road."         Witnesses said Dr. Mercer, driving about 40 miles an hour, had pulled far to the right in an effort to avoid the fatal collision.         Williams died instantly and Dr. Mercer succumbed while en route to a Waycross hospital.  He suffered massive head and chest injuries, authorities said. Wednesday 16 December 1964; pg. 14 cols. 2-5 TUTEN PRAISES MERCER, MEMORIALS URGED Congressman J. Russell Tuten eulogized the late Mayor Joseph B. Mercer at the City Commission meeting this morning as “one of the most outstanding, valuable and respected leaders in Brunswick’s history,” and both Rep. Tuten and Mayor Pro Tem Harry Long proposed memorials to him. Both the city and county commissions adopted resolutions in memory of Dr. Mercer. The city resolution said in part: “…we shall not meet his like again.” Rep. Tuten, referring to Dr. Mercer’s death last Saturday in an auto collision near Waycross, noted that he had been looking forward to the “joy and pride” of joining with the mayor and others in dedicating the remodeled Municipal Building this afternoon, but “instead we come …with sad hearts and contrite spirits as we obaserve a vacant chair.” Dr. Mercer’s accomplishments in “such a short time,” said Rep. Tuten were amazing. He performed an invaluable service to his community which was greatly needed and at the time it was needed. No state had a more conscientious doctor. No city had amore vigorous and dedicated public servant. No family had a better father and husband. He was my close and beloved friend. His efforts were untiring. His character was unquestionable. He stood like a man. “I know,” said Rep. Tuten to the commission, that “you will maintain his high standards and complete his program.” Rep. Tuten suggested that the commission “give consideration to dedicating an appropriate memorial soon in the memory of and to the honor of Dr. Joe Mercer, Brunswick’s most colorful and outstanding mayor. I hope a portrait will be displayed on the appropriate wall in the city hall. “You and I should be comforted by the fact that God claims clean, honest, dedicated ‘men of action,’” said the Eight District representative. Mayor Pro Tem Long said “the commissioners are formulating plans for a befitting memorial to this dedicated man.” He added: “Our loss is too great to be measured in words. The greatest tribute that can be paid to Dr. Joe Mercer is that this commission and the citizens of Brunswick carry out the programs that he initiated.” Giving the invocation for the meeting was the Rev. Jack P. Lowndes, pastor of Dr. Mercer’s church, the First Baptist, who officiated at the late mayor’s funeral Monday. The city’s resolution read in part: “As a public leader he was a man of honor, of courage, of high purpose, with an abiding concern that right should be done…As a friend he was a man of warmth, of trust, of steadfastness. “In life, we the people of Brunswick did give him our hearts and our hands; in death we stand bereft, knowing full well we shall not meet his like again.” The county’s resolution noted that Dr. Mercer’s death left a “political void that will not easily be filled,” and said his “dedicated purpose…was virtually contagious (and) glowed like a bright star in the community he loved.” The resolution expressed to Dr. Mercer’s family “genuine concern and sense of loss for the entire community.” County Commission Chairman W.G. Moran said his “life is richer through having known Dr. Joe Mercer…He was an outstanding physician…and a dedicated and dynamic person devoted to the betterment of our community. The Brunswick Press Club, in a letter to Mrs. Mercer expressed sympathy and expressed admiration for the late mayor’s “never-failing energy… he has left an indelible mark.” Additional Comments: More Glynn County Genealogy & History can be found at www.glynngen.com or the sister site at www.rootsweb.com/~gaglynn/ File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/glynn/obits/m/mercer3094gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 12.5 Kb