Gayle L Mercer

Gayle L. Mercer, age 87, of Blue Ridge, Georgia passed away Monday October 07, 2024.

Born February 15, 1937, in Cedartown, Georgia she was the oldest daughter of the late Sam and Ruby Lockridge. She was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years Martyn Clarke Mercer, Jr. Together in life, they raised five children in Tampa, Florida during which time she fulfilled her life-long dream to become a nurse.

Gayle determined early in her life to be a nurse. She started as a nurse aid at Polk General Hospital at the age of 14. She was told that the Hospital Board had to approve such a young person working with patients. She was not worried about that. She was the babysitter for most of the Board members’ children!

Following her call to serve others, she continued her education. Her degrees include BSN (1980), MSN (1987) (oncology and gerontology). In 1999, Gayle became a licensed Nurse Practitioner and had her own practice in Blue Ridge until 2004. She continued working as a Nurse Practitioner with Georgia Mountains Health, retiring in 2016.

She loved to teach. She taught courses at Hillsborough Community College and then later as an adjunct professor at the University of South Florida. She even taught as a patient! During one hospitalization, a young nurse could not get Gayle’s IV started correctly. When the nurse started to get someone else to help, Gayle told her to try again. Gayle patiently coached and walked the young nurse through the process, with the IV being correctly inserted and started.

After relocating to Atlanta, she continued her teaching with Hospice which allowed her to serve both the patient and the family. In Blue Ridge, as part of her outreach, she taught and educated many in the community, participated in the Healthy Women’s program, authored articles for the local newspaper and was well-regarded throughout the community for her caring, loving approach for her patients.

Gayle is survived by her children – Marty Mercer (Karen), Katy Abernathy, Carol Capers, Mitchell Mercer (Elise), Flo Markland (Kyle), 11 Grandchildren – Hammy Mercer (Danielle), MC Mercer (Amanda), Milly Chambers (Ted), Catherine Miller (Tyler), Katy Smith (Michael), William Capers (Megan), Sam Mercer, Elise Mercer, Charles Mercer, Mackenzie Markland, Andrew Markland and 3 Great Grandchildren – Ewan Capers, Cortland Capers and Mabel Mercer (with a 4^th on the way!).

The family would like to thank the wonderful teams at Delmar Gardens of Smyrna and the Peachtree Creek Memory Care Assisted Living Facility in Smyrna for their excellent and heartfelt care over the past years.

A family graveside service will be held at Greenwood Cemetery in Cedartown, Georgia Dec 7, 2024, followed by a Life Remembrance in Vinings, Georgia.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Georgia Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.