PROGRESS VILLAGE, Fla — How do you sum up more than 100 years of life?
That was the task for those who loved Emanuel Purdee Johnson at his celebration of life on Saturday.
"[He was] very strong. Loved his country. [He] believed everyone should vote and have the right to vote," said his daughter Von Gardner.
According to Johnson's family, the World War II veteran passed away on Tuesday, April 23rd.
He was 102 years old.
Johnson was heralded by locals and county officials alike for his lifelong commitment to advocacy—as one of Progress Village's first residents in 1960.
And his continued push for that progress in Progress Village also earned him the title of "Honorary Mayor"—an accolade unsurprising to those who knew him best.
"He told us with World War II that he told his uncle 'We're about to go and finish the war that y'all started.' That kind of is everything. He finished what everybody started. And then finished what he started," said Johnson's granddaughter Aristea Williams.
To honor his legacy in 2016 the county named the area's new community center after him. And four years later the county dedicated a park to him.
But even with those honors, his family told ABC Action News that his true legacy stretches far beyond the buildings and titles.
"The legacy is in our blood, it's in our veins, it's in the streets of Progress Village. It's in everything that we do. And we are so proud that we can be a part of it," said Williams.
Johnson was also affectionately known as a man of many "pleasant words."
So, it was only fitting that that family passed on these sayings that they'll remember him with and that they said we can all live by.
"One of the things that stood with me is 'Only a fool writes his future in cement,'" said Williams.
"He spoke very kindly of kind words. And he said 'If people will learn to be kind to one another, [the world] would be a better place,'" said Gardner.
“You threw my son under the bus. You didn't take care of him.”
The State of Florida and the VA are under scrutiny after the Baker Act was used incorrectly on a young veteran who went to a Florida VA hospital for help.
