The children of Ramona Mercer, from left seated, Cheryl and Dale Mercer and Darlene and David Tanner, presented a gift in honor of their mother and former missionary Ramona Mercer to Vickie Anderson, executive director of Tennessee WMU and Bill Gruenewald, president of the Tennessee Baptist Foundation. — Photo by James Wilson
FRANKLIN — The children of missionary Ramona Mercer recently honored their mother with a gift of $10,000 to the Tennessee WMU Missions for Life Fund, managed by the Tennessee Baptist Foundation.
The scholarship honors their mother, who died in August, and who, along with her husband, Dewey, served as International Mission Board missionaries in Japan for 38 years.
Their primary assignments were church planting and church strengthening.
As a woman, Ramona had opportunities to witness to the Japanese women in a variety of ways, including Sunday School teacher, organist for worship services, part-time home school teacher, and volunteer English teacher for a school community.
She also held Japanese cooking classes, taught quilting and patch work, taught doll making, and taught English at a trade school.
Mercer
Mercer, a native of Blanche in Lincoln County, was associate director of Woman’s Missionary Union of Japan from 1978-1985. Ramona also was the leader of a Mission Women’s group called “The Mission Family.”
Mercer’s husband died in April of 1991 of a massive heart attack. They had planned to furlough and retire in June of that year.
Vickie Anderson, executive director of Tennessee WMU, noted that Mercer had stated in her will that she wanted to leave some of her money to WMU.
Her children, Dale and Cheryl Mercer and David and Darlene (Mercer) Tanner, presented the gift to WMU in early November. B&R
