FELLSMERE — Former Fellsmere City Councilman John McCants wouldn’t have wanted the ceremony Monday morning – or the bench engraved with his name at the corner of County Road 512 and Cypress, but the community came out all the same to remember his impact on their city.
“He wouldn’t have cared about the hoopla,” his widow, Lillian McCants said after the ceremony, during which she and her two great-granddaughters, Desiree and Jasmine, unveiled the bench.
McCants passed away last November. He was 78.
During his years on the Fellsmere City Council, he championed sidewalks along County Road 512 between Myrtle and Willow – the sidewalks finally came, after he left the dais.
“He fussed with people to get it done,” Mrs. McCants said. “He fretted about it a lot. When he wanted something done, there was no stopping him.”
“This is our honor,” said Fellsmere Mayor Susan Adams of dedicating the bench to McCants’ memory. “And it’s long overdue.”
Councilman Joel Tyson was the driving force behind the bench and dedication.
“Johnny was my buddy,” Tyson said. “He was the shaker and the mover, and I was the go-fer.”
The men served on the Fellsmere City Council at the same time.
About 50 people attended the dedication ceremony in Fellsmere, sharing stories of McCants and recounting the passion he had for the city.
“I don’t think anyone was more persuasive than John was,” said Phil Matson, staff director of the county’s Metropolitan Planning Organization – the group the sidewalk had to go through to get done.
Matson told the crowd that he had seen politicians and lobbyists work to get their projects pushed, but none had the passion McCants had.
Matson recalled the challenges the county had getting the sidewalk built, especially due to drainage ditches and private property. He said it would have been easier for the county to nix the project.
“John wouldn’t let us,” he said.
Former County Commissioner Fran Adams told the audience that McCants wouldn’t give up on the sidewalk – and when it looked like the ditch might pose too great a challenge for the sidewalk, McCants found a solution.
“‘Why don’t we cover the dad-gum ditch?'” Adams recalled McCants suggesting.
Adams later said that McCants was never one to see the reasons not to do something – only the solutions.
“He was a hoot,” she said. “I can just hear him now.”
McCants’ granddaughter Heather McCants brought her daughters and 8-month-old son to the ceremony. He didn’t get to meet Dominic, who was born early but two months after McCants’ passing.
“He was just a wonderful man,” Heather McCants said of her grandfather, adding that it meant a lot to her that the community would remember him. “They cared about him.”
Even after McCants left the Fellsmere dais, he continued to work on behalf of the city, Mrs. McCants said, explaining that he would attend various government meetings to represent Fellsmere.
“If he didn’t like what was going on, he’d tell them the difference,” she said. “He was very dedicated to the city.”
