Tallahassee drivers will now get the chance to cruise down on the newly designated Maggie Lewis-Butler Honorary Roadway as that was made official on June 22.
City commissioners, city staff, friends, family and more got together at the Rickards High School auditorium to celebrate the new street designation.
The road naming, unanimously passed by the commission at their April meeting along with other street renamings, covers Jim Lee Road from Magnolia Drive to where it dead ends just south of Saddle Creek Run.
Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox at the April meeting said, “To one of my mentors, Ms. Maggie Lewis-Butler, she always encouraged me to be the best that I can be. She was not my teacher in the classroom, she was my teacher in the community and the service … I do is modeled after what she did … I really want to say to her thank you and we really appreciate what you do and all the number of children you’ve taught and continue to teach.”
Commissioner Curtis Richardson added: “Maggie and I, I guess you could say, we’re neighbors. We both live on the south side. Maggie succeeded me on the Leon County School Board and her son-in-law was one of my college roommates.”
Mayor John E. Dailey also spoke at the April meeting, sharing how Lewis-Butler served with his father on the school board.
“Maggie Lewis-Butler, you have known me since I was a little kid. You served with my father on the school board and I will just simply say that I think Scott Dailey is smiling down from heaven right now,” Dailey said.
Lewis-Butler served Leon County Schools in a number of roles over the decades.
Following her graduation from Florida A&M University, in 1966, she began a 30-year teaching career where she taught everything from high school biology, seventh, eighth and ninth grade science, adult education courses and even was an adjunct professor for her alma mater, teaching biology.
Following her retirement in 1996, she decided to run for Leon County School Board, being elected in November of that year to represent District 3. She served on the school board for 22 years, until December 2018.
According to the city, at the time of her retirement, she was the longest-serving school board member. But Georgia “Joy” Bowen went on to take the record of longest-serving school board member in Leon County history, serving 24 years in office from 1998 to 2022.
Arianna Otero is the trending and breaking news reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@tallahassee.com and follow her on X: @ari_v_otero.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee honors Maggie Lewis-Butler with new road
Reporting by Arianna Otero, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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By Arianna Otero, Tallahassee Democrat | USA TODAY Network
