Former magistrate John F. Black dies

When John Franklin Black was appointed Amelia County magistrate in 1975, "the county was small. There were not many people he didn't know," said Amelia Sheriff Ricky Walker.

Mr. Black, who served until he suffered two strokes in 2006, "was a people person," Walker said. "He just had that way about him, even in his later years. He could put somebody in jail and have them laughing [while they were] walking out the door to jail."

"There's no telling how many couples he married, and during his rescue squad years he probably delivered quite a few babies.

"He was like a second father to me. He was somebody to talk to if you had a problem -- he'd dealt with it at some point in time [because] he'd done so many things and could help you."

Mr. Black, a retired entrepreneur who had owned Buddy's Restaurant, Motel and Service Station in Amelia and managed Bradshaw's Restaurant in Burkeville, died Wednesday morning at home.

The 80-year-old Amelia resident's funeral will be today, Saturday, at 11 a.m. at Hillsman-Hix Funeral Home in Amelia, where he was a longtime volunteer. Burial will be in Sunset View Cemetery in Burkeville.

Mr. Black served on the Amelia Volunteer Rescue Squad for more than 30 years, often taking the day shift and answering as many as four calls a day.

Born in Piney Creek, N.C., he was in his teens when he drove relatives from Pennsylvania to Burkeville. He decided to stay in Virginia and worked various restaurant jobs.

He was 19 when he married 16-year-old Elsie Hamilton during the Fourth of July weekend in 1948.

"I met him when I saw him in the restaurant [where he was working]," his wife said. "I went to get a 5-cent cone of ice cream. He heaped it all up."

Mr. Black sold his Amelia restaurant and service station in 1973 and his motel in 1981.

Survivors, besides his wife, include a daughter, Julie Strumb of Burkeville; two sisters, Edna Littlefield of Penacook, N.H., and Sue Ham of West Grove, Pa.; and one grandson.