Pioneer Business Owner Passes Away

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS – This building in Sharon, a shared space with Alexander Realty, was the first step for Cynthia Lloyd’s small-business launch, Lloyd’s Bookkeeping and Tax Service. Lloyd started with 50 clients, before having to move to a location on Broadway Street in downtown Martin. She was the first black woman to have a bookkeeping and tax service business in Weakley County. She is pictured alongside her husband, Davell Lloyd, Sr., Church of God of Sharon members and in the back (right), a man who helped kickstart her business, Joe Brasher.[/caption]

Services for Cynthia Lloyd were held Friday

By Sabrina Bates

Editor

Family and friends of Cynthia Lloyd are invited to pay their respects to Weakley County’s first, black businesswoman in the accounting and bookkeeping field, Cynthia Lloyd. She passed Tuesday, Nov. 21, at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. Cynthia was 58 years old.

This pioneer in business leadership started her journey in Chicago, Ill., where she attended Simeon Vocational High School, graduating in 1983. She later continued her education at Chicago State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Accounting in 1988.

Cynthia and her widower, Davell Lloyd, Sr. met in Chicago after she gave her life to Christ and became a member of The Church of God in Chicago. The couple wed on Feb. 18, 1990, and moved to Weakley County five years later.

Davell explained how they ended up in Sharon, Tenn. Their journey started with Bible studies in a small trailer. The pair would spread the Gospel to community members and college students who would turn their lives over to God. After two years of ministry, the couple chartered The Church of God in Sharon in 1994. Davell said through the years, they met numbers of students who decided to stay in Weakley County upon graduation and raise their families here.

Cynthia and Davell had a two-year-old son and a child on the way when they re-located to Tennessee. It was when Cynthia wrote the charter for the newly-formed church in Sharon that caught the attention of Joe Brasher at what was known then as First State Bank in Sharon. Davell said Brasher was so impressed with the church charter Cynthia created, he offered her some office space at $100 a month inside the bank to assist clients with accounting services. She shared a space with Alexander Realty.

By 1995, Cynthia’s clientele numbered around 50 and it was time for more space. Through a small-business loan, Cynthia founded Lloyd’s Bookkeeping and Tax Service at 301 Broadway St., in Martin. She became the first black woman in the county to own an accounting service. She grew to serving 500 clients through the office space in Martin. Over the years, Cynthia was approached by large, corporate tax-service companies that attempted to buy her out. She stood strong and later pursued her Master of Accounting from The University of Phoenix, graduating in 2011.

During her 28 years in Weakley County, she helped grow a local church’s congregation, a successful business and raised four children. All graduated from Westview High School.

Jacob Lloyd is a pro-basketball player in Canada. Davell, Jr. works in a government job in Chicago, Ill. Rachel was a communications major who helped launch a radio station for the family’s church, known as The Light House -a soul-saving station. She remains in Weakley County. Theresa is an interior designer in Dallas, Texas.

Davell, Sr. credits his late wife’s perseverance, sacrifices and spirituality for helping to lead their children to success. She was the stronghold and backbone of the family. As for her clients, the family announced they continue to coordinate with details about the future of the business and each will be notified when details are finalized about Lloyd’s Bookkeeping and Tax Service.

“We appreciate all of our clients’ support over the years. To Cynthia, her clients were not just a number; they were family and she treated them as such,” Davell, Sr. noted.

Friends and family are invited to Cynthia’s services, set for 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 1, at The Shepherd’s Field Church in Martin. Visitation begins at 10 that morning at the church. Burial will follow services in Parham Cemetery in Martin.

McPhearson-Rawls Funeral Home in Union City is handling funeral arrangements.