In 1947, Mamie Johnson Strong had to step in and take over her husband’s funeral home after his sudden death. Shortly thereafter, she entered into a partnership with longtime family friend, Elbert Jones of Jones Funeral Home, and a nearly 70-year tradition was born. Both the Strong and Jones families took part in helping with the business, now a landmark in the historic Frenchtown neighborhood.
Mrs. Strong was born in 1900 in Thomasville, Georgia to Thomas and Betty Johnson. She attended Hampton University, where she majored in nursing. Upon moving to Tallahassee in 1932, she became a nurse at the Florida A&M College Hospital. She was subsequently promoted to Supervisor of Nurses. In 1943, she married Thomas Strong, and to this union were born Robert Clayton Strong, Betty Strong Lawrence, and Winifred Strong McCoy.
Mrs. Strong unfailingly gave financial support to countless organizations, and was actively involved in the civil rights movement. She was a member of the NAACP for over 50 years, and served on the civil rights committee of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference during the 1956 Tallahassee Bus Boycott, where she provided gas vouchers for carpool participants. She was a member of Bethel Baptist Church, the Tallahassee Urban League and a charter member of the Beta Delta Sigma Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority.
