John Rich Jefferson, Sr.

John Rich Jefferson, Sr., was born to Pastor Effer “F.J.” and Ida Mae Lane Jefferson in Baker County, Georgia, April 11, 1936. He moved to Arlington, with his brother and sister-in-law Odell and Cleo Curry to attend elementary school. In 1946, he moved with his parents to Chattahoochee, Florida. In 1948 they moved to Winter Garden to be close to his siblings. Under duress they moved to Newberry Farm, Williamsburg, Georgia, to pay off his deceased paternal grandfather’s alleged sharecropping debt and rescue his grandmother, “Ma Sally”. In 1951 they moved back to Winter Garden permanently, where he attended Drew High School. He continued his education at Westside Vo-Tech for small motors. On October 9, 1954, he married Margaret Thompson. An enlistment in the U.S. Army in 1956-58 took him to South Carolina and Texas for training and Colorado for service. Upon his return to Winter Garden in 1958, he worked for Speedy Myler in the citrus industry. Later that year, Sylvester Smith helped him to get a job with Roper Brothers operating a bulldozer. After the demise of the Roper brothers, he began working for Burt Roper at Roper Growers Cooperative driving tractors, watering trees and transporting equipment. For about six years he ran a fruit picking crew in Loxahatchee. Gradually, he worked his way up to tire man and then mechanic. He traveled the state of Florida extensively, North and South Carolina repairing trucks wherever Roper was hauling fruit (oranges, watermelon and peaches). Several times he was sent to Cape Canaveral to work on motors for the space program. To support his family, he often worked a second job, Frito-Lay for a few years and his own mechanic shop. He worked for the Roper family businesses in various capacities from 1958 to 1993 when a work-related accident forced his retirement. Then he ran a fruit picking crew with Golden Gem (1993-1995). Always industrious, he started a lawn business with six yards that Charles King gave him and two he acquired and built the business up to 48 lawns. As a child, he developed a love for Sunday School when he was a member of the Freewill Baptist Church near Arlington. He later attended Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church and New Inspirations Baptist Church. He moved his membership to Bay Street Church of God in Christ to be with his wife. His civic affiliations included assisting Deacon Joe Brown in obtaining street lights and paved roads for the Joe Louis subdivision. As a member of the Winter Garden CDC since 2010 he helped provide scholarships and home improvements for local residents. He was an avid farmer, fisherman, hunter and cook. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother, Odell Curry, and a sister, Queen Esther Odom. Several friends also preceded him in death: Stanford Davis, James “Bull” Burke and Ernest Hemingway. He leaves to mourn his passing: his devoted wife: Margaret; five children: Marlene, Mary Helen Haggins Orlando, John Jr., Victor (Shirley) of South Carolina, and Beverly; five grandchildren: Terika (Frank) Wright, Victor LeVar (Rhoda), Brian, Victoria Lamb, Margaret Nicole Pryce; six great-grandchildren: Monet Wright, Jalen Jefferson, Mekhi Jefferson, Alexrice Lamb, Malachi Lee and Jalisa Pryce; a devoted group of cousins including Susie Mitchell, nieces, nephews, and sorrowing friends.

Tributes

John Rich Jefferson, Sr.

April 11, 1936 - May 29, 2019