Downtown Columbus mourning the loss of Jerry, beloved homeless man who had ‘full life’

A celebration of life for a man beloved by the downtown community will be held Monday at Uptown Columbus.

The event will honor the life of Jerry Mercer, who died July 29 at the age of 65.

The event, posted on Facebook by Uptown Columbus and United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley Home for Good, will be held from 2-3 p.m. at 25 W 10th Street.

Friends, family and members of the community are invited to come listen or speak about Mercer’s life and the impact he had.

The post states that donations can be made in his honor to the Home for Good, which worked with Mercer and continues to work with other homeless people like him. Donations can be made online at http://www.homeforgoodcv.org/donate/.

Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan said Mercer was pronounced dead at 12:35 p.m. July 29 after people in the 600 block of 5th Avenue discovered him sitting on a wooden bench at the back of the complex.

Known locally as just Jerry and often seen riding his bike around town, Mercer died of a heart attack, Bryan said.

Bryan said that he had been told Mercer had stopped at Fountain City Coffee on Broadway that morning after having walked over from Phenix City.

Bryan said Mercer’s body will receive a pauper’s cremation at Colonial Funeral Home & Crematory and be placed in a columbarium at East Porterdale Cemetery.

Neil Richardson, a Muscogee County Jail chaplain who helped open SafeHouse Ministries for ex-offenders, the addicted and the homeless, said Mercer was a selfless person.

“Back when the SafeHouse first started opening for the cold weather to make sure that the homeless had a place to go, Jerry used to always say that he was tough enough he could handle most of the cold weather, but he would round up his friends and make sure they got inside,” Richardson said. “One January several years ago it got down to 13 degrees, and there was Jerry coming through the door with a handful of the real old timers that he had rounded up. . .Jerry was just one of those guys that made people smile and thought about everybody else first and you really were glad to call him friend and you were honored if you got to know him and chat with him.”

Haley Salie said in an email to the L-E that she met Mercer in 2011 when she started her first job at Brother’s General Store.

“He would occasionally help bring in the produce for the morning markets in exchange for a meal or some money to help him out with anything. I always enjoyed the small chats we exchanged and his friendly demeanor,” she said.

She also said he was always a ”welcomed face” at the morning markets and that she enjoyed seeing him around Fountain City Coffee and having an occasional coffee with him.

“The good morning chats will be missed,” Salie said.

Fountain City posted about Mercer’s death on Facebook Monday afternoon, sharing a portrait of him.

Rustam Rafi, a barista at the coffee shop, said Mercer was a regular. If he didn’t have money he would come in to get water, but often someone would buy him a coffee, sweet treat, or, his favorite, a BLT.

“He would come in in the morning and just kind of hang out all day. He used to trade a paper or papers for a muffin and a coffee. He didn’t really bother anybody. If anything, most people around here just kind of hung out with him,” Rafi said. “He knew a lot about a lot of different things, and knew everyone downtown and how everyone was, so if you wanted information about the city, he was a good person to talk to.”

Mercer would share stories about his life, Rafi said, and wasn’t negative about the downsides of life, even though he was blind in one eye and had cataracts and diabetes.

“He sounded like he had a really crazy, full life,” Rafi said. “He was always a good dude. Fountain City was Jerry’s spot.”

Did you know Jerry and have a story you’d like to share? Email aedean@ledger-enquirer.com.

This story was originally published July 29, 2019 at 6:51 PM.