January
8 – Sam Hutchinson, founder and chairman of Interface Construction Corporation, died at age 77. He graduated from Charles H. Sumner High School where he was later inducted into its Hall of Fame. He then earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from St. Louis University. After founding Interface in 1978 with his life savings, Hutchinson’s firm became one of the Midwest’s largest Black-owned construction firms.
12 – Lee M. Blount, Jr., MD, died at age 88. A graduate of Vashon High School, he earned his undergraduate degree at St. Louis University and then excelled at the Howard University College of Medicine in Washington D.C. He returned to St. Louis for a surgical residency at Homer G. Phillips Hospital. He was affiliated with Deaconess Hospital as well as Homer G. Phillips, when he retired from his practice. Dr. Blount was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on Aug. 14, 1932, the second oldest of five children, but grew up in Carr Square Village in segregated St. Louis. Blount was outstanding in track at Vashon High School and later in life became a marathon runner and award winning tennis player. He was known as a fierce tireless and courageous civil rights activist who “knew how important our institutions are. We didn’t really understand it at the time, but we grew up with leading figures in civil rights at our home because of our dad,” daughter Renee Blount said. Dr. Blount’s family was the first Black family to integrate the community of Ladue. At the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr., he marched alongside Robert Kennedy. He also had a passion for the arts, languages, books and music.
24 –Dorothy Elliott, founding assistant director of the John B. Ervin Scholars Program at Washington University, died at her home in St. Louis. She was 84. Affectionately known as Mrs. E., Elliott was a sounding board, champion and second mother to generations of Ervin scholars, long after her retirement in 2002.
Charles R. Willis, local attorney and professional cowboy, died following a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He graduated with a BS degree in Business Administration and earned his JD from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. He maintained a private law practice for over 40 years and served as a president of the Mound City Bar Association.
30- Johnetta Randolph Haley, one of the first four Black teachers in the Kirkwood School District and lifelong educator, dies at age 97. In 1972, she became an assistant professor in the SIU-Edwardsville Department of Music. She became an associate professor in 1978 and professor in 1984. Haley served as the executive director of the SIUE East St. Louis Center from 1984-1993 and was named professor emeritus in 1993 by the SIUE Music Department upon her retirement.
April
12 – Noted gospel radio personality Darrel “Easy” Eason died at 57-years-old. Eason was named program director for Praise 95.1-FM in 2017 and hosted “The Morning Praise.” He previously programmed crosstown Gospel KATZ-AM (Hallelujah 1600) and KMJM-FM (Majic 104.9)/St. Louis. Eason has also been a staple on the airwaves in St. Louis since November 1989.
June
15 – St. Louis began learning the inspirational story of St. Louis Fire Department firefighter Rodney Heard after his gallant fight against COVID-19. His former partner Gregg Favre called Heard a “rock-solid partner” and “hell of a fireman. In 2009, we were at an especially bad fire. Middle of the night, heavy fire, multiple people trapped. Rodney was how he always was – calm, focused, ready. The dude was always in position.” Heard’s son, Roderic, is also a city firefighter.
19 – Jonathan Smith, St. Louis University vice president for diversity and community engagement, died on Juneteenth at 61, following a stroke 11 days earlier. Smith earned his bachelor’s degree at Princeton University and went on to get his master’s and Ph.D. at Washington University in St. Louis. He got his start at St. Louis University in 2002 as an assistant professor of American Studies. A commemorative plaque at the amphitheater and Clock Tower of St. Louis University honoring Smith and his legacy was unveiled Oct. 25, 2021.
20 – Nationally renowned evangelist Rachel Hankerson passed away at 47. She and her husband Bishop Elijah H. Hankerson founded Life Center International Church at 8500 Halls Ferry in June 1998. Evangelist Hankerson, who was known as “First Lady,” carried a message of encouragement to women to “live as ladies of destiny, dignity and purpose.”
July
2 – Hazel Erby, the first Black woman elected to the St. Louis County Council, died at 75. Erby represented the council’s first district and from 2004 to 2019 and served as council chair for several years. She had been the University Township Democratic committeewoman and was a founder in 2014 of the Fannie Lou Hamer Democratic Coalition, a group of Black elected officials in the county. Erby, a graduate of Vashon High School, attended Lincoln University and Harris-Stowe State University. She succeeded Charlie Dooley in 2004 after he was elected St. Louis County executive and played a major role in key policy debates — most notably an effort to establish benchmarks for racial minorities and women to be a part of county construction projects.
11 – Betty Thompson, whose life was defined by public and community service, died of complications from diabetes at 81. Thompson was a community fixture in University City and began her political career as a councilwoman. She served on the council for 18 years. She was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in a special election in 1997, representing part of St. Louis County in the 72nd District. She won elections for two-year terms to the House in 1998, 2000 and 2002. Thompson was a member of the NAACP and nonprofit Better Family Life. She was a past president of Women in Municipal Government and host of a radio program on KATZ and KIRL for more than 25 years. As she was launching her political career 12 years after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Thompson started the Martin Luther King Jr. St. Louis Support Group, made up of students from across the metro area. “I know I’m not alone when I say she inspired multiple generations of leaders, legislators, activists and community-minded individuals who will carry on her legacy of lifting up the least of all of us,” Mayor Tishaura Jones, the city’s first Black woman mayor, said.
20 – Henry Givens Jr., the former longtime president of Harris-Stowe State University, which he is credited with saving, died at 90. He grew up in St. Louis’ storied Ville neighborhood, 10 minutes from the small teaching college he would lead for 32 years. “When he arrived in 1979, many thought the school was on the brink of extinction. Givens had other ideas,” Gloria Ross wrote in Givens’ obituary. During his tenure, Harris-Stowe’s student enrollment tripled, the single building then on campus grew into seven, and the single elementary education degree it offered grew to 14 baccalaureate programs. In 1954, Givens graduated from Lincoln University in Jefferson City and Givens began teaching fifth and sixth grade and physical education at Douglass School in Webster Groves. He was the school’s only male teacher. To integrate Douglass, administrators wanted a program “unlike anything in the nation” to attract white students. He designed the program and successfully introduced his concept to the community. Douglass was fully integrated with a two-year waiting list and top national achievement levels when Givens became principal in 1967 and subsequently assistant to the superintendent of schools. He earned a master’s degree in education at the University of Illinois-Urbana and a doctorate in urban education and school administration at St. Louis University. He later did postdoctoral work in higher education administration at Harvard University. Dr. Givens’ remarkable achievements make him an iconic St. Louis leader,” Donald M. Suggs, St. Louis American publisher. said. “He was an innovative educator and administrator, a visionary whose legendary determination and hard work helped lead to his remarkable successes that included global projects. But it was his undeterred dedication to Harris-Stowe and its mission to provide greater opportunity for thousands of the underserved that places him high in the pantheon of extraordinary St. Louisans.”
August
12 – Belma E. Givens, a St. Louis native, a product of the St. Louis Public Schools and honored educator, died at 85. She earned her baccalaureate degree (cum laude) in Business Education from Lincoln University and earned her teaching certification at Harris Teachers College. Givens received a master’s degree from Webster University, where she majored in Education and Reading. She received an honorary doctorate from Harris-Stowe State University in 2018. Givens’ SLPS career began as a teacher, then as a reading specialist, and concluded as an administrator. She retired, with honor, in 1999 after 34 years of service. She was the wife of longtime Harris-Stowe State University president and civic icon Dr. Henry Givens, who preceded her in death July 20.
October
17 – Jeanette Culpepper, a St. Louisan who championed for families of crime victims and became a tireless advocate for violence prevention, died of lymphoma at the age of 73. After losing her 22-year-old son, Curtis Johnson Jr., to gun violence in 1991, Culpepper teamed up with Williams Temple Church of God In Christ and for decades after his death, she held a candlelight vigil every New Year’s Eve at the sanctuary to pay homage to individuals lost to violence that particular year. The 2021 service will mark the event’s 30th anniversary.
November
21 – Donna Wilkinson, entrepreneur, philanthropist and beloved friend of many in the St. Louis area, died at 72. She launched her nonprofit consulting business in 1995 and helped organizations across the region raise millions of dollars to support their missions. She also continued to share her expertise on a volunteer basis and served in a leadership capacity with the Regional Arts Commission, Missouri History Museum, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL), and St. Louis Science Center, and as a board member for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Radio Arts Foundation, Grand Center, Inc., the American Red Cross, Girls, Inc., the National Children’s Cancer Society, the Sheldon Arts Foundation, and the United Way, among many others.
