- Lloyd W. Johnson, Sr. was honored by Alachua and Marion counties for his decades of leadership, farming and education service in Evinston.
- Johnson built Mount Olive A.M.E. Church, chaired a local African American school, and drove a Marion County school bus starting in 1944.
- The Florida Civil Rights Museum unveiled a historic marker and a road was named Lloyd W. Johnson Sr. Memorial Avenue in his honor.
Alachua County and Marion County officials gathered Saturday at Mount Olive A.M.E. Church in Evinston to honor Lloyd W. Johnson, Sr. and his decades of leadership and service for both communities.
Johnson Sr. built the church’s original building along with the one still used today. With his brothers, he cultivated over 100 acres of peanuts, eggplant, corn and other crops and also worked as an electrician, plumber, chair of the African American school that met for a time at the church and then a school bus driver.
He was driving his and neighboring children to school in his own car before being hired to drive the number 23 bus for the Marion County school system in 1944. His commitment to education ensured each of his children attended college, speakers said…