Melbourn Lloyd Sellers, Sr. was born May 6th, 1932, as the fourth child to Gertie Bell Newman Sellers and Arthur Herbert Sellers in Alexander City, Alabama. He grew up in and around Avondale Mills and graduated from Benjamin Russell High School, Alexander City, Alabama, in May 1951. Upon graduation from high school, Lloyd enlisted in the U. S. Air Force and was sent to Lackland, Texas Air Force Base for basic training. Following basic training, he survived a twelve-week course in Surgical Technician School at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Post training, he received his first station assignment and was transferred to Burtonwood Air Force Base (England) and assigned to the Medical Squadron. He was stationed in England for 40 months. While assigned to Burtonwood AFB, Lloyd was part of the 3rd Air Force, and his responsibilities took him on temporary duty assignment to Oslo, Norway; Madrid, Spain; Buxton and Blackpool, England; Nice, France; and Geneva, Switzerland. In addition to faithfully completing his work assignments, he completed eight quarters of college education through the University of Maryland.
Returning to the United States in late 1954, Lloyd was stationed at Eglin AFB until his discharge in 1955. After spending some family time in Alexander City, he moved to Atlanta to work at Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as a laboratory technician and continued his education at Emory University and the University of Georgia. Lloyd met Sara Margaret Meadows in 1957 while working at CDC, and they were married one year later in Opp. While at the CDC, he and Sara Margaret participated in the testing of the flu vaccine, the polio vaccine (Dr. Jonas Salk), and the oral polio vaccine (Dr. Albert Sabin). They were also directly involved in training other national health departments (Peru, USSR, Europe, India, etc.), as part of the CDC connection with the World Health Organization on techniques utilized by the United States to protect the general public’s health.
In 1961, Lloyd and Sara Margaret moved from Atlanta to Birmingham, Alabama; he began pharmacy school, and she began work at Southern Research Institute. He graduated from Howard College in 1965 (later known as McWhorter School of Pharmacy) and began working at Birmingham Apothecary. While at Birmingham Apothecary, Lloyd refined his understanding of store management, drug rotation, and inventory control and gained extensive experience with pharmaceutical compounding. Part of that compounding experience includes one of the first compounding of the product that would become known as 5 Fluorouracil, still available today and on the WHO’s List of Essential Medicines. In 1966, Lloyd joined the Pharmaceutical Association of Alabama, and through the years served in almost every office in the association: District 12 Representative, Speaker of the House of Delegates, Chairman of the Membership Committee, Treasurer, Second Vice President, and President Elect.
With the birth of Melbourn Lloyd Sellers, Jr. (1964) and Sean Winston Sellers (1965), Lloyd and Sara Margaret began looking for a more desirable place to raise a family and made the decision to settle in Opp Alabama (1967). Once in Opp, he became a member of Dean’s Pharmacy, pharmacy staff under Mr. Charlie B. Williams. He also joined the Covington County Pharmacy Association. Lloyd developed extensive training material about the illegal use of narcotics, using this material for years to educate students, various community groups, and civic leaders on the threats posed using these drugs.
Lloyd and Sara Margaret were now fully committed to making their home in Opp, and Stacy Sellers Davis was born in Mizell Memorial Hospital (1968). Lloyd was elected charter president of South Highlands’ PTA in 1968, the same year he purchased Dean’s Pharmacy from Mrs. Charlotte Williams, widow of Mr. Charlie B. Williams. While continuing his work at Dean’s Pharmacy, Lloyd became the pharmacist for Mizell Memorial Hospital Pharmacy in 1970 and managed the operation of the Mizell Memorial Hospital Pharmacy until 1979. In 1975, Lloyd was elected president of the Opp Lions Club and expanded Dean’s Pharmacy, Inc. by opening a second pharmacy in Opp, Alabama, Towne & Country Pharmacy (later renamed T & C Pharmacy). He owned and operated both stores until 1994 when he sold T & C Pharmacy. In 1978, Lloyd was the Alabama recipient of the A. H. Robbins’ Bowl of Hygeia, awarded annually by the Alabama Pharmaceutical Association to one pharmacist in the state in acknowledgement of his/her services to his/her local community and pharmacy. In 1983 and 1984, Lloyd served as the Marching Black and Gold Band Booster president. In 1991 Dean’s Pharmacy recorded its one millionth prescription filled a very rare milestone for a small-town pharmacy. Lloyd served as the president of the Opp Saddle Club, a source of good family entertainment in both 1994 and 1997.
Sadly, in 2004 Sara Margaret was diagnosed with colon cancer at which time Lloyd sold Dean’s Pharmacy with the intention of staying home and caring for her to which she replied, “No you won’t!” Two weeks after the sale of Dean’s Pharmacy, Lloyd joined Rite-Aid Pharmacy, working as a floating pharmacist in south Alabama. In 2006, Sara Margaret passed away, and Lloyd became Pharmacy Manager at the Opp Rite-Aid Pharmacy. In July of 2016, Lloyd was inducted into the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame. In December of 2016, he retired from pharmacy practice.
Through the years, Melbourn Lloyd Sellers has been actively involved in his community, serving in several with the school system, the Opp Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club, and the Covington County Cancer Society. He has certainly made a powerful impact on the city of Opp, through both his community service and his presence in the field of pharmaceuticals. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.
