A former mayor and long supporter of the arts in Sumter County, Johnny Sheffield, 80, passed away on Wednesday morning, July 1, 2009, at his residence.

Graveside services will be conducted at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 4, in Oak Grove Cemetery with Rev. Bill Dupree officiating.

Born July 30, 1928, in Sumter County, he was a son of the late John West Sheffield, Sr. and Emily Lawson Cheves Sheffield. He was a member of Troop 21, Boy Scouts of America, and was one of the first boys in Sumter County to become an Eagle Scout. He was a life-time resident of Sumter County, and graduated from Americus High School where he was known as an outstanding athlete, participating in football, track, and basketball. He graduated from Virginia Military Institute where he also proved to be an outstanding athlete in football, track, and wrestling. He also attended Harvard Business School.

Mr. Sheffield was a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Commerce. He served as a captain of a tank battalion in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict.

He was a Captain in the National Guard in Americus, and directed the troops in winning many honors. As long as he was able, he was an active member of the First United Methodist Church, serving as a member of the Board of Stewards and a Sunday School Teacher in the Young People’s Department. He was the president of Sheffield Hardware Company for many years. He was a classroom reading mentor in “Missy” Roland’s class at Cherokee elementary school. Together, they progressed with the students from first grade through third grade, moving up with the children as they moved up in school.

He was always civic-minded and demonstrated that through many endeavors.

He was a member of the cast of 14 consecutive plays which were performed to raise funds for the Friends of Lake Blackshear Regional Library. He was a volunteer and member of the advisory board at the Rylander Theater, served on the Americus city council and as mayor p ro-tem for many years and as mayor of Americus for two terms. He was a member and past president of the Americus Rotary Club and the Southern Wholesale Hardware Association. He, with his brother and father, built Lake Collins which they named in honor of his father-in-law, James Chalmers Collins, and together they developed the area around Lake Collins.