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.