Johnny Willie Vaughn

Johnny Vaughn

Funeral services for Reverend Dr. Johnny Willie Vaughn, of Dublin, Georgia, will be held on Wednesday, August 21, 2019, at 1 PM at the Dublin New Birth Ministries, 900 Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive in Dublin. Apostle H. J. Sinclair will preside, and Reverend Reginald May will deliver the eulogy. Interment will follow in the Dudley Memorial Cemetery.

Reverend Dr. Johnny Willie Vaughn was born on March 11, 1946, to the parentage of the late Willie and Christine Moorman Vaughn. Reared in Dublin, Georgia, he was a member of the Oconee High School Class of 1965, where he was a member of the Mighty Trojans football team and the Oconee High School Choir. In 1972, Rev. Vaughn enlisted in the United States Army, where he served for five years as a MP and received an Honorable Discharge in 1977.

Rev. Vaughn received Christ at an early age and was later ordained as a Minister for Christ. He was a member of the Williams Chapel Baptist Church in East Dublin and was affiliated with several churches in the Dublin-Laurens Community. In 2009, he founded the Dublin New Birth Ministries, where he served as pastor.

Rev. Vaughn had a desire to be a positive influence and guide in the lives of young people in the community. He was founder of Community Hope Center, Inc., which included the Hope Home for Boys and the Hope Home for Girls, both of which were residential living centers for at-risk youth. His love and commitment to the community were evident through his motto of “Helping Other People Excel.” In 1994, he opened the Walter Wesley Joiner Academy, a learning facility for at-risk youth who were served in the residential home and those within the community who were unsuccessful in the public school sector.

Rev. Vaughn was an active member of his community. During the Civil Rights Movement, he was instrumental in the integration of Browns Restaurant. He led the movement to restore the old Oconee High School building; he was instrumental in the movement for 4-H in the Dublin-Laurens Community. Rev. Vaughn was active in the Dublin-Laurens Voter’s League and served as the Youth Advisor for the local chapter of SCLC. He founded the Agape Room, which was a soup kitchen that fed about 150 people per day in the late 1980’s. He was the founder of the District One Voter’s Association and the Dublin New Birth Ministries Homeless Shelter. His other business ventures included Oconee Properties, Oconee Furniture and J & J Fashions.

Rev. Vaughn transitioned to his eternal rest on Thursday, August 15, 2019, surrounded by his loving family. His daughter, Tracie V. Miller, preceded him in death.

He leaves to cherish his memories his loving wife, “Ms. Bessie” as he affectionately called her, his children, Stacie Vaughn of Beaumont, Texas, Cosonja (Leonard) Jefferson of Macon, Julie Vaughn of Atlanta, Michelle (Devon) Mitchell, Nicole (Robert) Williams, Deidre Todd and Johnny Vaughn, III, all of Dublin, Johnny Vaughn, Jr., of Kansas, and MSGT Mackenzie (Yokisha) Wright of Germany, a devoted sister, Earlene Renfroe of Dublin, sisters-in-law, Eva Wynn, Barbara Todd and Shirley Todd of Dublin, Rutha Chappell and Dorothy White, of Atlanta, and a host of grandchildren, relatives and friends.

The family is receiving friends at 128 Parker Dairy Road in Dublin. Please post condolences at ServicesByDudley.com.

Services by Dudley Funeral Home of Dublin