Gone Home: Black Catholic transitions in 2020

This year was a tough year of loss for virtually everyone, and in particular for Black Catholics. Even if we did not lose someone we knew personally, we lost many figures of import to our movement, and we also mourn with the world as the collective loss of life continues due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Clergy

Fr Chester Smith, SVD, co-founder of Bowman-Francis Ministry and the National Black Catholic Men's Conference.

Bishop George Murry, SJ, first Black American Jesuit bishop.

Fr Charles Green, public school integrator.

Sports

Kobe Bryant, NBA star and media mogul.

John Thompson, Jr., Georgetown coach and mentor.

Educators

Sister Mary Reginald Gerdes, principal of Saint Frances Academy.

Clida Ellison, lector, catechist, and mother of the first Muslim in Congress.

Kirk Gaddy, principal of Saint Frances Academy and academic director of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies.

Thelma M. Robinston, Richmond public school official.

Idell Pugh, parish integrator and HBCU official.

Tom Wilson, Jr., Detroit activist and advocate.

Pioneers

Dr. Lionel Desbordes, longtime obstetrician.

Al Thierry, first city department director in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Carl Brewer, first Black mayor of Wichita.

George Lovelace, first Black state representative for Northern Virginia since Reconstruction.

Frank E. Gilbert, Esq., founding member of Jack and Jill.

Willie Belton, recipient of Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and was the first African-American to seek state office in his district.

David J. Wall, longtime Richmond supervisor.

Vernon "Tim" Conway, Civil Rights (and early Black Power) activist.

Arts

Ellis Marsalis, Jr., jazz artist and teacher.

Lauretta Dorsey Young, opera singer and educator.

#GivingTuesday and beyond: