Dr Merritt Ryals Clements
(1911-1988)

Died aged c. 77

Dr. Merritt Ryals Clements was born in Greenville, Florida in 1911. He graduated from high school at the age of 16, and from Emory Medical School in 1935. In 1939 he moved to Tallahassee to begin his medical practice, then served in the Navy in World War II. Upon returning to Tallahassee, he worked at Florida A&M Hospital and the Baptist Hospital at Dale Mabry Field. He was a founder of the Cancer Tumor Clinic at the FAMU Hospital. In 1948 Dr. Clements was a founder of Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and advanced the field of obstetrics and gynecology in rural North Florida. He served as Department Chairman and Chief of Staff at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital from 1958 to 1959. He was the first physician in the area to have an integrated waiting room. Dr. Merritt Clements died in 1988.

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