Beverlye Neal, local activist, dies at 74
Advocate worked for civil rights and environmental issues
Beverlye Neal, a champion and “political mastermind” for civil rights, elderly affairs and environmental justice in Central Florida, has died after a yearlong illness. The Winter Park resident and past president of the Orange County branch of the NAACP was 74.
“It is with great sorrow that I learned of the passing of Beverlye Colson Neal,” said Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings. “She was a tireless advocate for social justice in her decades of work through the NAACP.”
Demings said Neal worked closely with him during his tenures as Orlando police chief and Orange County sheriff, and supported his creation of the Orange County Sheriff ’s Citizen Advisory Committee.
“I was personally inspired by the writings of her daily words about how to navigate life and I will dearly miss her,” Demings said.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer called Neal a fighter, working to help others in civil and human rights.
“I greatly respected her and valued our partnership in working together to make Orlando a better place for everyone,” Dyer said.
Neal was born and raised in Jacksonville, and graduated from New Stanton Senior High School. Her father was a taxi driver and her mother a teacher. She attended Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College, designated as a Historically Black College and University, majoring in biology.
Also from Jacksonville is Dr. Randolph Bracy, founder of one of Orlando’s largest African American churches, New Covenant Baptist Church.
Bracy said the two did not cross paths in Jacksonville but through mutual contacts became friends and collaborators in Orlando. Neal was a member of New Cove-nant.
“She was a champion of civil rights all of her adult life from high school on and became affiliated with the Duval County chapter of the NAACP in her younger years,” said Bracy, now a distinguished scholar at Bethune—Cookman University.
“I knew Beverlye when I was
and methamphetamine.”
During the first six months of 2021, 86% of those who died from a drug overdose in Central Florida had fentanyl present in their bodies, Worrell said.
Both the state attorney and police chief encouraged people to seek help for their addictions and be careful when using recreational drugs because they may be laced with fentanyl.
“It’s almost [like] playing Russian roulette if you’re out there dealing with recreational drugs and illegal substances,” Rolón said. “Please keep that in mind.”