Bill Text: VA HJR417 | 2020 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Celebrating the life of Annie Mae Dorns Merritt.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-03-05 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ417ER) [HJR417 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2020-HJR417-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, Annie Mae Dorns Merritt, beloved citizen of Charlottesville who was affectionately known as "Mother Merritt" by her friends and family, died on March 6, 2019, at the age 104; and
WHEREAS, Annie Merritt graduated from Ridge Hill High School in Ridge Hill, South Carolina, and continued her education at Bettis Academy and Junior College near Trenton, South Carolina; and
WHEREAS, following her graduation, she began teaching in Ridge Spring, South Carolina, and later attended Benedict College and North Carolina A&T State University, majoring in elementary education; and
WHEREAS, in 1940, she married Robert Merritt and continued teaching until he returned from World War II and completed his studies; she then moved with him to Charlottesville in 1951, where she studied at Jackson P. Burley High School to become a licensed practical nurse and worked in the University of Virginia neurology and newborn nursery departments; and
WHEREAS, one of the first African American nurses to serve at the University of Virginia, Annie Merritt later was a visiting health nurse with the Charlottesville-Albemarle County Health Department until her retirement in 1979; and
WHEREAS, Annie Merritt was a founding member of the Albemarle-Charlottesville branch of the NAACP, becoming a life member and recipient of the NAACP Virginia Banks Carrington Humanitarian Award in 2013; and
WHEREAS, guided throughout her life by her deep and abiding faith, Annie Merritt was an active member and leader of First Baptist Church of Charlottesville, where she enjoyed worship and fellowship with her community; and
WHEREAS, preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, Robert, Annie Merritt will be fondly remembered and dearly missed by her children, Robbie and Kent, and their families, and numerous other family members, friends, and others touched by her life of service; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Annie Mae Dorns Merritt, a cherished member of the Charlottesville community; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Annie Mae Dorns Merritt as an expression of the General Assembly's respect for her memory.
