Rita Mercier is the wife of the late Ralph P. Mercier. She has four children. Rita currently works for the Middlesex County Sheriff's Department since 2004. She was born and raised in Lowell, the daughter of the late Rita and Leo Rospond.
On January 7, 2002, Rita Mercier became the third woman ever elected Mayor of the City of Lowell, Massachusetts, since its inception in 1826. She has topped the ticket in twelve City of Lowell elections. Mercier is serving her 29th year as a city councilor.
Councilor Mercier has supported a progressive agenda with the senior citizens at the top of her list. She along with others started what is vibrant today as the Friends of the Lowell Council on Aging and serves as their president.
She has worked tirelessly to make Lowell a destination city and to provide the seniors with a new state of the Art Senior Center, which was completed and opened on April 2nd, 2003.
She is also the president of the Bridge Club of Greater Lowell, a non-profit dedicated to providing a safe haven for those in recovery.
Councilor Mercier has served on numerous subcommittees of which Parks and Recreation is on top, as her serving on it the longest as the present chair. She is also the chair of the Senior Citizen subcommittee, a member of the Veterans, Cannabis Control, and Substance Abuse subcommittees.