Murry endured racism in Clermont as a youth before leaving for college, then the Air Force.
The son of sharecroppers, Murry earned 5 degrees, including a master's.
Murry lost 2 races for Clermont City Council before winning in a bid for mayor.
CLERMONT — As Tim Murry looked across Lake Minneola, he saw how far he has come.
It was 2018, and Murry had organized a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. The scheduled speaker called in sick, leaving Murry as the emergency fill-in. As he waited to speak, Murry's mind raced back to a more divided time in his hometown's history.
"Wow, I’m here to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s death, and I’m standing up on the stage in waterfront park in the city of Clermont on a beach that I wasn’t even allowed to swim in,'' Murry recalled.