JAMES ‘RONNIE”S OBITUARY
James Ronald “Ronnie” Merritt Sr. of Wellborn, FL passed away peacefully on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. Ronnie was born on April 23, 1939 in Leesburg, Florida to the late BJ and Eula Mae Merritt. He was saved and baptized as a young teenager, while attending church with his family at First Missionary Baptist Church in Mascotte, Fl. He was reared and educated in Lake County, Florida, graduating from Groveland High School in 1957. After high school he truck farmed with his father a couple of years. He married the love of his life, Janice Dobson from Webster, Florida on April 9, 1960 at Gant Lake Baptist Church. Pursuing a career in the mortgage and loan business, they moved to Jacksonville and then Orlando, Florida. During this time in the early 60’s, he served as a sergeant of a mortar squad attached to a Florida National Guard Infantry unit, after US Army training in Ft Benning, GA and Ft Bliss, TX.
Ronnie answered the call to preach the gospel in 1966 and was ordained by Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Orlando, Fl on December 8, 1967. He went on to pastor five Baptist churches in the American Baptist Association during a 60 year pastoral ministry in Florida and Alabama. He faithfully surrendered himself to be used of the Lord to under-shepherd hundreds of church members, point hundreds to Christ and help change the lives of individuals, families and communities through pastoral ministry. Ronnie’s testimony of living a Christ honoring life in right doctrine was taught to him by his own spiritual ancestors. Currently three generations of his descendants are actively serving in many capacities of associational Baptist ministry. He leaves a legacy of faithfulness, obedience and stewardship to his high calling of preaching and giving of his time, talent and treasure for the furtherance of the Gospel.
He was a truck crop farmer on and off for his entire adult life, producing only the finest quality sweet potatoes, vegetables and citrus. Ronnie, a seventh generation Floridian, was known throughout North Central Florida as an honest, principled man of impeccable character and integrity. His soft-spoken word carried the power of a written contract. Ronnie was a patient, slow tempered, loving soul that enjoyed his family, the outdoors, healthy foods, pocket-knives, reading, black coffee, three finger biscuits, all things peanut, crispy fried fish that wasn’t “fishy“, vacationing in the rural Smokey Mountains, a good hamburger, farming, gardening, preaching, teaching and Bible study. Very unlike a typical Baptist preacher, he hated “dumplings”, calling them “wet bread”!
He was proceeded in death by his parents BJ and Eula Mae Merritt, son James Ronald Merritt Jr, and brother-in-law Monty Ticson. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Janice Merritt, son Steve Merritt (Laurel) of Winfield, Alabama, son Paul Merritt (Christi) of Ocala, FL, son John Merritt (Laura) of Ft. White, FL. grandchildren: Jacob, Megan, Adam, Daniel, Rachel, Samuel, Kayla, Lauren, Daisy, Carly and Emmie Reese. Great Grandchildren: Brylynn, Blake, Stella, Liberty, William, Evelyn, Colton and Caleb, Sister Katherine Ticson, and Brother Robert Merritt (Billie).