Virginia Hayes remembered for her creative teaching
As a kindergarten and first grade teacher at Blackwell Elementary School, Virginia Hayes was concerned that too many children arrived with little knowledge of numbers, counting and the concepts of adding and subtracting. Ms. Hayes set out to change that …
Malinda S. Jones, who worked to spread faith, dies at 88
For 24 years, Malinda Smith Jones organized weekly revivals in Richmond in church parking lots and other open spaces from June through August.
Bettye Jean Branch Bragg, former Head Start aide, dies at age 80
Bettye Jean Branch Bragg touched the lives of hundreds of Richmond children during her 34 years as a teacher’s aide in Head Start, a program to prepare 3 and 4-year-olds for kindergarten and higher grades.
Karl E. Bren, housing advocate, dies at 78
Tennessee transplant Karl Ellis Bren is being remembered for his influence and impact on affordable housing, environmental policy and homelessness during his 38 years in Richmond.
Leroy Mason, a voice for prison reform, dies at age 83
Leroy Mason is being remembered for helping to change the Virginia prison system where he spent most of his adult life and for helping other prisoners make a successful transition after their release.
Lucille A.B. Roane, voting proponent, former detective, dies
Richmond voter advocate and former city police detective Lucille Aurelia Brown Roane has died. Mrs. Roane, who was the first Black president of the Richmond Metropolitan Area Chapter of the League of Women Voters and the third Black woman to …
William L. Prentiss Jr., local and regional band director, musician and educator, dies at 58
William Leon “BB” Prentiss Jr., who molded thousands of student musicians as the director of high school marching bands in Richmond, Chesterfield County, Norfolk and four other localities, has died.
Wilson A. Seaborn succumbs at 76
Wilson Alexander “Bopper” Seaborn loved being an educator.
Dr. Dean Climmon Williams remembered as a compassionate, caring physician
Dean Climmon Williams, known to his colleagues as “Dr. Dean,” passed away Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, at his home in Richmond, leaving behind a legacy of compassion and care in Virginia’s medical community.
Richmond Free Press freelance writer, editor Charles H. Taylor III, dies at age 70
From his earliest days to his twilight years, Charles H. Taylor III was a person of excellence and compassion for those who knew, worked with and loved him.
Longtime Richmond educator remembered
Bessie Patricia Carter Brown loved being involved with education, her family said.
Earle P. Taylor, photographer and cultural arts innovator, dies at 94
Earle Palmer Taylor, a renowned Richmond photographer who ran a nonprofit Shockoe Bottom art gallery for two decades and taught hundreds of people the art of taking and de- veloping pictures at the city’s Pine Camp art center, has died.
Influential African-Americans who died in 2022
They were literary giants, luminaries of stage and screen, and masters of their chosen professions – be it music, sports or fashion. Most are famous, a few are notorious. Yet they all profoundly impacted their fields of endeavor.
Alphonso H. ‘Al’ Bowers Jr., who fought for construction diversity, dies
Alphonso Hugo “Al” Bowers Jr., a veteran Richmond contractor who was outspoken in promoting Black inclusion in government building projects and promoted construction trades training program for unemployed adults, has died.
Pastor Marshall D. Burgess Sr. memorialized
A memorial service for Rev. Marshall D. Burgess Sr. was held on Dec. 2, 2022, at Metropolitan African American Baptist Church in Richmond. He died on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022, at the age of 90.
