In street-renaming ceremony, NSB honors late Westside resident and leader Jimmy Harrell
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — A little more than a year after his passing, the city and residents of New Smyrna’s Historic Westside neighborhood came together to honor Jimmy Harrell, one of the community’s most prominent leaders.
“Jimmy and Mary will never be forgotten by the Westside and the whole of New Smyrna,” said Mayor Fred Cleveland at an event Thursday morning during which Duss Street received the honorary title of Jimmy Harrell Way.
The event took place in front of the Mary S. Harrell Black Heritage Museum, where Harrell worked as executive director until 2022.
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The museum is one of the cornerstones of the Historic Westside of New Smyrna Beach. The structure that houses the museum was built in 1899 as the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. It was later moved to the site at Duss Street in 1956 as the Old St. Rita Colored Mission Church.
In 1999, Mary Harrell chaired a citizens' committee that raised funds to restore the building.
“He volunteered side by side with his wife when she set out on a quest to collect and share African-American history and was instrumental in making the museum that bears her name a reality,” the city added.
He died April 3, 2022, at the age of 91.
“You are making history,” Cleveland told the residents attending the event. “This commemoration will not happen again. We may celebrate it again, but you marked the day. A very special day.”
Harrell remembered for dedication to the community
Harrell was born July 10, 1930, in Worth County, Georgia. He attended school at Eatonville, Florida, and graduated from Florida A&M University in 1957.
A year later, he married Mary and the couple moved to New Smyrna Beach in 1960, where he taught vocational agriculture to local farmers for three decades.
He was also a member of the Allen Chapel, where he served as a trustee, steward and choir member, and volunteered in several church and civic programs.
Harrell was named a Volusia County Teacher of the Year in 1985 and 1989; served on the board of directors at the museum when his wife served as executive director; was voted Citizen of the Year in 2016 by the Volusia County League of Cities; and New Smyrna Beach Citizen of the Year in 2020.
“And of all these accomplishments, what he loved the most was just being a child of God,” Cleveland said. “The children here will never have the pleasure of meeting Jimmy, but their parents will tell the stories and they will land in their heads, and they will know that goodness became of one man that lasted generation after generation.”
After his remarks, Cleveland presented the Harrell children — Brenda Jones, Linda Herring and Wally Harrell — with a replica of the honorary street sign, Jimmy Harrell Way.
After thanking city staff for making the event possible, Cleveland invited the Harrell family to unveil the sign.
Harrell family remembers father, brother and friend
Jimmy Harrell’s brother, Allen Harrell, addressed the crowd.
“I am so proud of this event,” Allen Harrell said. “And it is my hope that the light that Jimmy carried, the light that shone in this community, the brightness of it, will continue to exist for years to come and, especially, for generations and generations of the Harrell family.”
The honoree’s brother remembered Harrell’s past as an educator and church member in the Westside, as well as his dedication to the school system.
“I thank you all, and I just hope that you remember the life that Jimmy carried,” Allen Harrell said. “The life that shone in the darkness.
“Jimmy made sure that this community was inclusive to everybody, and as I look among you, I see that his dream came true,” he added.
Herring also thanked the city for hosting the event in honor of her father.
“I wish he was here,” Herring said. “I think he is looking down at us right now, and what a gracious thing for the city to do.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NSB honors late resident Jimmy Harrell in street-naming event
