James A Mercer, Jr

James A. Mercer, Jr., was born in Sandersville, GA on the 1st of November 1936, and returned home to his Heavenly Father on 14th of May 2024.

He was the second child of Army Lt. James A. Mercer Sr and Lucille Barwick Mercer. His mother was tragically taken in an automobile accident when he was eight months old, and he and his sister were sent to live with his father’s parents. He was raised in Tennille, GA where his grandfather was an engineer on the Wrightsville and Tennille Railroad. He was an outdoors child, hunting and fishing. He played sports and was captain of his high school football team. A new girl moved to town in the eighth grade and although it took him about four years to realize it, his fate was sealed when he started dating Minnie Louise Horne, head cheerleader and class valedictorian.

He joined the Air Force after graduation and went to basic training in San Antonio, TX. When he completed training, he returned to Tennille and married her on Christmas Day 1954. He was assigned to Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX where their first child, Jim, was born. After remote duty without his family in Libya and Greece, he decided to return to civilian life, switched to the Army National Guard, and began selling Insurance. After his second child, Mike, was born, he became a full-time National Guardsman. Just before his third child, Angie, was born, he was called to active duty for the Cuban Missile Crisis. After that, he decided against an active career in the Army and returned to selling insurance. He went back into the Air Force in 1963 and resumed his military career. After a four year assignment in Aviano, Italy, he completed his BA degree at Golden Gate University in San Francisco while assigned to Hamilton AFB in Novato, CA.  Selected for Officer Training School while a Master Sergeant, he became the oldest Second Lieutenant in the Air Force at age 32. After training as an Intelligence Officer, he was sent to Thailand and then Viet Nam. Returning to the states, he was assigned to Pope AFB in NC where he was selected to attend the University of Utah and receive his master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies. After graduation, he was assigned to European Command Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. He returned to the states and taught Air Force ROTC at Indiana University before being sent to Air Command and Staff College and then to United States Central Command in Tampa, FL. He was then assigned as Chief of Intelligence for Air University at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, AL until retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1991. He was an Adjunct Professor of History at Auburn University Montgomery, taught at, and became principal of Bullock Memorial Academy, and taught at Hooper Academy before retiring for good in 1999.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, John Mercer (Angie), son, Michael Keith Mercer (Vickie), and daughter Angelia Lucille Mercer Mattson (Scott).

He is survived by his wife, Minnie Louise Mercer, his sisters, Merilyn Mercer Knight and Stella E. Mercer Fruge, his son, James L. Mercer (Chris), four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and many beloved cousins, nieces and nephews.

Burial with Military Honors will be in Brownwood Cemetery, Sandersville, GA on Monday, June 3rd, 2024, at 2:00pm, there will also be a viewing at 1:00pm at May and Smith Funeral Home in Sandersville, GA.

Condolences may be made online at www.mayandsmithfuneraldirectors.com

May and Smith Funeral Directors is in charge of these arrangements.