Longtime Opp pharmacist Melbourn Lloyd Sellers, Sr. will be inducted into the Opp Hall of Fame during the Opp and Covington County Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual Membership and Hall of Fame Banquet.

A native of Alexander City, Alabama, Sellers and his wife, Sara Margaret Meadows Sellers, moved his family to Opp in 1967 to join the staff of Dean’s Pharmacy, which he purchased in 1968.

He also served as pharmacist for Mizell Memorial Hospital Pharmacy, and managed that operation until 1979.

In 1975, he opened a second pharmacy, Towne and Country Pharmacy (later renamed T&C Pharmacy), and operated boh stores until 1994, when he sold T&C.

In 1991, Dean’s Pharmacy recorded its one millionth prescription filled. He sold that pharmacy in 2004, after his wife, Mrs. Sellers was diagnosed with colon cancer. His intention was to stay home and caring for her, to which she replied, “No you won’t!”  Two weeks after the sale of Dean’s Pharmacy, Sellers joined Rite-Aid Pharmacy, working as a floating pharmacist in south Alabama. In 2006, Sara Margaret passed away, and he became pharmacy manager at the Opp Rite-Aid. He retired in 2016.

Sellers has been active in the civic life of Opp, becoming the charter president of the South Highlands PTA a year after moving to Andalusia. He has served as president of the Opp Lion’s Club; as the Marching Black and Gold Band Booster president; and as the president of the Opp Saddle Club.

He was active in 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.

He also has been recognized in the pharmaceutical industry. The Alabama Pharmaceutical Association awarded him the A. H. Robbins’ Bowl of Hygeia in recognition of his service to pharmacy. In 2016, he was inducted into the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame.

He served in the U.S. Air Force, and was stationed in England for 40 months, with many temporary assignments in Europe. During this time, he completed eight terms of college. After his discharge in 1954, 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.

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.

Sellers will be recognized at the annual banquet, set for 6:30 p.m. on Thurs., May 9, at First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall. Tickets are $25, and available at the Chamber office.