In the quiet corners of Clearwater Municipal Cemetery, history is being meticulously preserved by the hands of Joyce Mandley. A nurse by day, Mandley dedicates much of her free time to restoring the oft-forgotten tales of those who laid the groundwork of her community. According to a recent feature by the City of Clearwater, she’s been spotted numerous times, cleaning headstones, piecing together fractured markers, and immortalizing the legacies of the interred on the Find a Grave app.
Mandley’s passion project began amidst the isolation of the COVID-19 lockdown, when she stumbled upon her own kin’s memorials within this very cemetery. Since then, the gesture to honor her ancestors has bloomed into a commitment that has brought over 360 headstones back from the brink of obsolescence, as far north as Pennsylvania. She told the City of Clearwater, “I find that my volunteer work gives me satisfaction in knowing I helped to preserve local history for generations to come.”
The preservation efforts are more than just a scrub and repair job. Mandley has immersed herself in the history of Clearwater’s former residents and their contributions. She recounts tales of pioneer families, educators, and early innovators from the Pinellas Peninsula with the ease of storyteller—except her stories are all real. Among those she’s highlighted are notable figures like Dixie M. Hollins Sr., Pinellas County’s first superintendent of schools, and Nancy Campbell, an early settler known for owning the first frame house in the region…