In dedicating a four-volume reference set of historical African-American obituaries, Clarence Monette answered a question that has long confounded area residents.
“Many people have asked me, ‘Why do you want to do something with dead people?’” said Monette during a March 7 ceremony at New Bethel A.M.E. Church in Port St. Joe.
Monette offered a multi-pronged answer.
For two years, Monette and his fellow members of the R.A. Driesbach Knights of Pythias Lodge No. 77 gathered and compiled over 1,600 funeral programs and obituaries of area African-American residents.
Preserving the lives of the men and women who inhabited the historical African-American community known as “north Port St. Joe” acquired a greater urgency, given recent population declines and changes in land ownership.
“We see north Port St. Joe dwindling and people selling property,” said Monette, the Pythians’ chancellor commander. “We needed to do something to preserve the history of north Port St. Joe.”
The project also seemed a natural fit for the Knights of Pythias, an organization founded in 1864 to relieve suffering and promote friendship among men.
Abraham Lincoln urged the passing of a congressional act to establish the organization in an attempt to unite a country still divided after the Civil War.
Originally open exclusively to white men, the club expanded to include African-American members in 1880, after a lawsuit settled by the Supreme Court.
Monette, a retired media specialist, had been fascinated by the history contained in obituaries since serving as a church usher in junior high.
The March 7 ceremony allowed him to thank the many community members who helped with the project and also recognize the heroism of the men and women profiled in the four-volume set.
Noting that African-Americans enjoyed success in “every field you can possibly imagine,” Monette singled out some for special praise.
Though most residents have heard of Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Clifford Sims’ heroic self-sacrifice in Vietnam, the stories of E.L. Fleming, R.C. Larry and Norris Langston are not as familiar.
Fleming, a former Gulf County bus driver, rescued a child from a house fire in 1955 and Larry lost an arm while freeing a fellow mill worker from a paper machine.
Langston died at age 36 from lung complications sustained while rescuing a man rendered unconscious by fumes from a broken paper mill chlorine line.
“This is a history that would be lost without some sort of record being kept somewhere,” said Monette. “This is something we can be proud of.”
At Monette’s request, Bay County educator Janice Lucas shared the history of her great-great grandmother, Lucy Crowell, who graces the book’s cover.
Born in 1860, Crowell was one of 19 children who also bore 19 children. She died in 1972, at age 112.
In her lifetime, Crowell lived through some of the most formative epochs in U.S. history – slavery, reconstruction, two world wars, Jim Crow and Vietnam.
She saw the inaugurations of 37 presidents – from James Buchanan to Richard Nixon.
Lucas said she kept a photo of Crowell in her office to remind her on whose shoulders she stands.
“We may say slavery happened so many hundreds of years ago, but for us, it’s just generations,” said Lucas. “Many of us were raised on the wit and wisdom of slaves.”
Pastor Sandra Clark dedicated the volumes to the “holy ministry of service and worship,” and the Pythians distributed the sets, complete with index and DVD, to representatives of local churches, the library and St. Joseph Bay Historical Society.
The ceremony also included musical performances by Elitha Gant Harrison, Herbert Beard and Sally Jenkins.
Monette said the Pythians will continue to gather obituaries and update the index annually. Supplemental loose-leaf copies of the funeral programs will be given to all churches.
After dedicating two years of his retirement to the obituary project, Monette deserved a little recognition himself.
Minnie Likely rose from the audience to lead attendees in a standing ovation.
Monette offered humble thanks.
“It was a joy,” he said. “It was a joy to do this.”