(This story was updated to accurately reflect the most current information and to correct the spelling of Ellas McDaniel.)
The Bethlehem Methodist Episcopal Cemetery Organization announced on social media that former Archer mayor and local civil rights activist Roberta “Betty” Campbell Lopez has died at age 87.
In a post shared Feb. 15, the organization said Lopez was born and raised in Archer and that her life was grounded in love for her family, her community and the history it shaped while she served as president of the organization.
“She understood that this sacred ground holds the stories of generations, veterans, ancestors, and families whose lives helped build the Archer community,” the Facebook post read. “Under her leadership, preservation was not simply a task; it was a mission. She worked tirelessly to ensure that the cemetery remained a place of dignity, remembrance, and honor for all who rest there. She did it her way — and her way made a difference.”
Lopez’s daughter, Felicia Lopez-Walker, shared a press release she wrote about her mother with the Sun on Feb. 16. She said Lopez made city history as the first Black woman elected to the Archer City Commission in 2002 and was later appointed mayor in 2010. She concluded her term as mayor in September 2011.
As a young woman living in Washington, D.C., Lopez attended the historic March on Washington in 1963 and witnessed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech firsthand, Lopez-Walker said. Her family said the experience helped shape her lifelong commitment to community involvement and civic engagement.
Lopez returned to Archer in 2000 to care for her mother and began volunteering extensively in the community, eventually taking on local leadership roles.
She and her husband, Francisco “Frank” Lopez, helped register residents to vote, organized neighbors, and co-founded the Northwest Archer Community Association.
According to Lopez-Walker, one of her mother’s “most enduring legacies is the Archer Community Center,” which Lopez helped transform from an abandoned 1936 high school gymnasium into a community space. The center first opened in 2003.
“Through her leadership, advocacy, and persistent fundraising, more than $900,000 was secured through grants, government partnerships, and community support to restore the facility. The center officially opened in 2011 and remains a vital gathering place for youth programs, community meetings, and cultural events,” Lopez-Walker wrote in the press release.
According to Lopez-Walker, one of her mother’s “most enduring legacies is the Archer Community Center,” which Lopez helped transform from an abandoned 1936 high school gymnasium into a community space. The center first opened in 2003.
In 2012, Lopez and former Hawthorne Mayor John Martin both ran for the Alachua County Commission District 1 seat. Martin told the Sun on Feb. 16 that he and Lopez served on separate city commissions around the same time and collaborated on several projects.
One of the largest efforts they worked on together was Bo Diddley’s memorial service, Martin said. Lopez organized the service, while Martin spoke at the event.
“I spoke at the memorial service for the one and only Bo Diddley that she put on because I knew Bo Diddley. His name was Ellas McDaniel. I knew him well,” Martin said. ” I’ve known Ms. Lopez for a long time, both professionally and personally.”
Additionally, Martin added, he worked with her son to revamp the aforementioned community center and said its significance is important as it became a centerpiece to the city and brings non-Archer residents to the area.
Working for Archer since December 2025, Martin said the city has held four meetings and Lopez attended nearly all of them.
“One thing about Roberta is you never had to guess what was on her mind. She had something on her mind, good or bad or whatever, she was going to speak it for sure,” Martin said.
Lopez is survived by her husband of more than six decades, Francisco “Frank” Lopez; her children, LTC Wendell F. Lopez (U.S. Army, Ret.) and Felicia Lopez-Walker; her son-in-law, Blair S. Walker; her grandchildren, Blair R. Walker and Bria Walker; and an extended family of siblings, relatives and community members.
Funeral services will be held Feb. 20 at Queen of Peace Catholic Church at 10 a.m. in Gainesville. The repass will be held at the Archer Community Center in Archer.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Archer’s first Black mayor and local civil rights activist dies
Reporting by Elliot Tritto, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
