Born in Ashville, Alabama, Ms. Merchant was an attorney for the Social Security Administration until she retired. She received law degrees from the University of Alabama and Emory University, where she was the only woman in her law school class each time, and was a member of the Alabama Law Review and Kappa Beta Pi. She was a member of the Alabama State Bar and the National Society DAR (Cahawba Chapter). Ms. Merchant was preceded in death by her parents John Conley and Pearl Ross Moore Merchant and brothers Finis Ross Merchant and John Conley Merchant, Jr. She is survived by her niece Martha Alice Merchant Griffin (Joseph) of Georgia; niece Barbara Marie Merchant (Michael Acker) of Washington; nephew John Conley Merchant, III; nephew Roland Clayton Merchant, M.D., Sc.D. of Massachusetts; great nephew James Winfield Hendershott of Utah; great niece Laura Marie Griffin; great nephew Robert Clayton Hendershott of Georgia; sister-in-law Rolaine Mann Merchant; and many cousins. Visitation will be January 30, 5-7 p.m. at Ridout’s Valley Chapel. Graveside service will be January 31, 11 a.m. at Elmwood Cemetery. Donations in her memory may be made to Brother Bryan Mission or Third Presbyterian Church.
