Gwendolyn Amick

Gwendolyn “Gwen” Hodges Merritt Amick, 90, of Columbus, Georgia, died Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at Columbus Hospice House. 

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, January 9, 2026, in the chapel of McMullen Funeral Home and Crematory, 3874 Gentian Blvd., Columbus, GA 31907. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Interment will follow the service at Parkhill Cemetery, 4161 Macon Road, Columbus, Ga 31907.

Gwen was born in Ashford, Alabama, to the late James Dempsey Hodges and Ruth Belcher Hodges. She was a graduate of Jordan Vocational High School and Columbus College with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Gwen retired from Fort Benning as a Management Analyst. She was a member of Saint Mark UMC and Tuesday Afternoon Bible Study (TABS). She served as a longtime volunteer at the Day Butterfly Center in Callaway Gardens and volunteered with her second husband for Meals on Wheels until her husband’s health declined.

Gwen was fortunate enough to have had two great loves of her life. She was married to her high school sweetheart, Melvin Thomas Merritt, the father of her two precious sons, until his untimely death in 1983. In 1987, she married MSG Otis E. Amick, who was a retired soldier. They were married until he died in 2012. Gwen was also preceded in death by her precious brother Dempsey Hodges and daughter-in-law Cindy Merritt.

Gwen is survived by her sons, Mark Alan Merritt of West Point, Georgia, and Paul Thomas Merritt, (Pam) of Columbus, Georgia, grandchildren Toni Merritt, April Merritt, Drew Merritt (Mike), Brianna Merritt, Carlyn Forehand (Noah), great grandchildren, Christian Merritt, Cody Merritt, Caleb Chambers, Westyn Shea and Dillan Forehand, step children Matthew Amick (Jackie) and Lisa Jo Amick, sister Gayle Pollock sister-in-law Paula Hodges and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Flowers will be accepted, but those so desiring may make a memorial contribution to Saint Mark UMC, Columbus, Georgia. Https://www.stmarkcolumbus.com/give-2