Evelyn Lane Merritt

Evelyn Lane Merritt, daughter of Lawrence and Ella Harris Lane, was born in Wayne County, Georgia, on November 12, 1920, and passed away on February 2, 2005. Evelyn grew up in the home of her grandmother, Mrs. Henry Harris, following her mother''s death in 1928. She was a graduate of Jesup High School where she was senior class president, and played the piano for the Baptist Church. She graduated from the Georgia State College for Women in Milledgeville, and married Warren G. Merritt of Greene County, Georgia, on July 30, 1942. Warren''s military service took them to the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and, after the war, back to Georgia where he graduated from Georgia Tech. The family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1948, where Warren began a 35-year career with Sandia Laboratories, and Evelyn taught elementary school. She was a long-time member of the First Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque where she served as a secretary, Sunday School teacher and Deacon.

Evelyn is survived by her daughters, Nancy Merritt of Washington D.C., and Susan Merritt Elder of Albuquerque; her sister and brother-in-law, Doris and Harry McLeighton, of Savannah, Georgia; brother-in-law, Billy Merritt of Siloam, Georgia; nieces, Beth Howard and Suzanne Lewis of Savannah; nephews, Billy Lane and Carl Lane of Jesup, and Chip Merritt of Siloam, Georgia; and many friends and family members. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, sister-in-law, Dorothy Merritt of Siloam, Georgia; and brother and sister-in-law, William G. Lane and wife Mae of Jesup, Georgia.

A memorial service in celebration of her life will be held at the Siloam Methodist Church in Greene County, Georgia at 2:00 p.m., on Sunday, February 20, 2005.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Evelyn''s memory to the Christ Our Shepherd Church elevator fund, 801 North Carolina Avenue S.E., Washington D.C. 20003; or the University of New Mexico Cancer Research and Treatment Center, MSC 084630, 1 UNM, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001.

McCommons Funeral Home, 109 W. Broad St., Greensboro, GA, (706) 453-2626, is in charge of arrangements. Visit us at www.mccommonsfuneralhome.com to sign the online guest register.

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