Mary Jo Kittle Merritt, 89, of Tifton passed away Thursday, April 11, 2024, at Magnolia Place Assisted Living in Ocilla. A graveside funeral service will be held for Mrs. Merritt at 11:00 a.m. Saturday. April 13, 2024, at Mystic Cemetery, where she will be laid to rest. The Rev. Ike Branch will officiate. The family will be gathering at Mrs. Merritt’s daughters’ home, Glenda Mobley, at 149 Flamingo Road in Fitzgerald.
Born December 3, 1934, in Randolph County, Alabama, Mrs. Merritt was the daughter of the late Hershal Kittle and Claudie Smith Kittle. She was also preceded in death by her husband, William A. “Billy” Merritt; one son, Steve Johnston; one daughter, Joni Nichols; one brother, Lawrence Kittle; one sister, Myrtice Ring; and one great-granddaughter, Olivia Mobley. Before retiring, she was a beautician and the owner of Hair Benders in Tifton. She loved to read and she enjoyed gardening. She was a member of Zion Hope Baptist Church in Tifton.
Mrs. Merritt is survived by one son, Michael Keith Covington of Brownstown, Indiana; two daughters and one son-in-law, Glenda Mobley of Fitzgerald and Regina and Gary Sumner of Tifton; one sister, Florence Latham of Fitzgerald; six grandchildren; Jonathan Mobley, Andy Dickens, Angela Strickland, Stacy Merchant, Al Horton and Niki Powell; and seven great-grandchildren.