Lee Leviticus Kirkland, 1882 d. August 3, 1960

Lee Leviticus Kirkland, an Alabama native, moved to Jacksonville Beach in the early 1940s and was the unofficial caretaker of the cemetery that now bears his name. A former sharecropper who never worked for the city in any official capacity, Kirkland tended to the burial grounds for the segregated Black community in his spare time for more than 20 years, until his death in 1960 at the age of 78.

According to one of his relatives, Lee had a gentleman’s agreement with the city of Jacksonville Beach to keep up the cemetery in exchange for a family plot. He dug graves with only a shovel and when people couldn’t afford headstones, he made them out of wood or concrete. After his death, the city of Jacksonville Beach passed a resolution naming the cemetery in his honor. His wife, Ida (Ward) Kirkland of Newville, Alabama, was married to Lee Kirkland for 51 years. She was a loyal and dedicated member of the Thomas Chapel Church of God by Faith in Jacksonville Beach. At the time of her death in 1985 at age 95, Ida had 30 grandchildren, 53 great-grandchildren and eight great-great grandchildren. Her memorial service was held at the First Baptist Church in Jacksonville Beach.

"Cemetery was a labor of love for Kirkland," The Beaches Leader July 21, 2010 (page 7A)

Polk Directory (1941, 1950, 1976)