To the Editor:

Raystine Johnson-Ashburn is the first African-American female funeral home owner in the City of Franklin. Her grandfather was the founder of the Wm. Johnson and Sons Funeral Home. He passed it on to his son who passed it on to his daughter.

Raystine is a black woman who actually cares about people in their time of sorrow and grief. She is dedicated to her job of taking care of our loved ones after they have departed from this life to death. She is capable of making the dead look as though they are about to wake up out of a deep sleep at the twinkling of an eye.

Raystine not only takes care of the deceased, she also tries to make life easier for the living.

For the first time in the city’s history, Franklin, Virginia, elected its first female and African-American as mayor, as Vice Mayor Raystine Johnson defeated 16-year Mayor Jim Council.

Raystine Johnson has sat on city council for 16 years. She is the manager & owner of Wm. Johnson and Sons Funeral Home.

During the post-election interviews with Franklin’s The Tidewater News newspaper, Mayor Johnson-Ashburn said that she wasn’t really focused on breaking down racial and gender barriers, but rather on “the things that we have to do.

“There is work that has to be done. I am concentrating on taking Franklin to a new level.”

Mayor Raystine Johnson-Ashburn is the first African-American to be elected Franklin’s top political post. She said, “It’s a group thing, not an ‘I’ thing…”

Raystine is my friend. When she sees me she always has a beautiful smile and a big hug for me.

Mayor Raystine Johnson-Ashburn has made her mark as part of our Black History Heritage.

I salute Mayor Raystine Johnson Ashburn who is very much a big part of Black History Month.

The Rev. Clarine Moseley
New Hope Baptist Church