February 2006

Ms. Virgie Warren   Virgie Warren of Flushing has been awarded the Herman Sr. & Iris B. Marable Senior Citizen of the Month Award for February 2006.  Warren 69, is a country music writer/recording artist and magazine publisher. She has organized and performed at many music events in the community. She is an active member of the Flushing Senior Center, and the Flushing Historical Society Ms Warren has utilized her talents to organize fundraising events for various charitable organizations including the Area 13 Special Olympics, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Multiple Sclerosis Society, the American Cancer Society, Relay for Life, and the Leukemia Foundation. Ms Warren has previously been honored and inducted into the National Traditional Country Music Association Hall of Fame, the Michigan Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Michigan Pioneer Music Walk of Fame. She was named as an Honorary Kentucky Colonel, and an Honorary Tennessean. She has received proclamations from the mayors of Flint and Flushing for her community service, and was nominated twice for Flushing Citizen of the Year. She will soon release her fourth record album.

 

March 2006

Mrs. Shirley Jean Scott Shirley Jean Scott has been awarded the Herman Sr. & Iris B. Marable  Senior Citizen of the Month Award for March 2006.  Mrs. Scott, 66, is active volunteer with several community organizations, poet, and servant of her fellow senior citizens. She has been a mainstay with the Beecher Salvation Army for over 15 years serving there as a soldier, assistant recorder, council board member, librarian, volunteer, nurse, secretary/treasurer, and home league member. She has raised funds to expand the Beecher Salvation Army as well. She is the secretary of the local gospel group "The Anointed Zionaires." A resident of the Slidell Senior Residence Center, she has served her fellow residents as the Activities Coordinator, operated Bingo games, and assisted residents with their needs and concerns. Many there have described her as the "Florence Nightingale" of Slidell. Scott has utilized her talents as a poet and received Diamond Homer Award in 1995 and was recognized by Famous Poetry.com. Her other honors include Special Congressional Recognition by Congressman Kildee, several awards from former Flint Mayor Stanley, Honorable Mention for Senior Citizen of The Year, and many awards from the Slidell Center. Scott was also honored by the Flint Housing Commission, and was named an Honorary Northwestern High School Wildcat.

 

April 2006 (Posthumously)

Mr. John Hightower  John Hightower has been awarded the Herman Sr. & Iris B. Marable                   Senior Citizen of the Month Award for April 2006. Mr. Hightower, who died on April 25, at the age of 80, was active in the Flint community and well known as a civil rights activist, labor leader, business pioneer, political consultant, and humanitarian. Born in St. Louis, MO., he moved to Flint in 1952 where he married the late Marie Hightower. He was employed by Buick where he served as a Committeeman and Executive Board member of UAW Local 599. He was the Chairman of the Civil Rights Committee at UAW Local 659.  As a civil rights advocate Mr. Hightower marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and advocated that local companies hire minorities. As a businessman and licensed electrician, he owned Hightower Construction, Hightower Electric Companies The Travel Centre of Flint, and the Colonel's Drive-In. He was proud of the fact that he had constructed many Flint churches, and trained 22 electricians. He frequently provided jobs and shelter to homeless persons in the community. Mr. Hightower was a World War II veteran, and he was a founder, and the first Post Commander of Flint's George Washington Carver VFW Post #3791. He was an active Life Member of the NAACP. Mr. Hightower received numerous awards and honors during his lifetime including the State of Michigan Veteran of the Year, The Edgar Holt Human Rights Award, University of Michigan, B1ack Labor History Award, and the National Association of Negro Business and Professional, Women Frederick Douglas Award. He was honored in 2000 when then-Mayor Woodrow Stanley declared it "John Hightower Day" in Flint.

 

May 2006

Mr. Willie "Big Bill" and Mrs. Mary Williams Mr. Willie "Big Bill" and Mrs. Mary Williams of Flint has been awarded the Herman Sr. & Iris Marable Senior Citizen. of the Month Award for May 2006.   Mr. Williams 82. has been an active local union leader and civil rights activist throughout his adult life. He served as a committeeman, shop committee chairman, vice-president of the fair employment practices committee and international representative during his many years as a UAW member while working at Buick. He was one of the founding members of Unity for Justice. Mr. Williams was active on the local political and civil rights scene, working with Flint NAACP official Edgar Holt, former Flint Mayor and Genesee County Register of Deeds Floyd J. McCree, Former Genesee County Commissioner Nathaniel Turner, and Former State Representative Roger B. Townsend. Mr. Williams was awarded the UAW Civil Rights Pioneer Award for his efforts. He has been a member of New Zion Baptist Church since his childhood. Mr. Williams has been supported in his efforts by his wife of 65 years Mrs. Mary Williams. Mrs. Williams, 84, worked at Chevrolet for a while, but later decided to be a homemaker rearing their six children. She has been active in her church, Ebenezer Ministries working with senior citizens there.

 

June 2006

Ms. Martha Sutton Ms. Martha Sutton of Flint has been awarded the Herman Sr. & Iris Marable Senior Citizen of the Month Award for June 2006. Ms. Martha Sutton 77, of Flint has been active in neighborhood organizations, various churches, and  other groups. She was president of her block club, a member of the Welfare Rights Organization, the Zodiac Club, and the Title One College Fund to name a few. She has also been active in the religious community as a member of the Wednesday Morning Prayer Breakfast, Gordon United Methodist and Charity United Methodist Churches where she participated in the Mission Society and the choir. She has-been involved in teaching black history at churches, and collected money for the less fortunate. Her political activities includes serving as a precinct delegate, registering people to vote, participating in the open housing movement, and working on  many election campaigns over the years. Ms. Sutton's civic activity includes graduating from the Leadership Flint program. She reports that she was instrumental in persuading the Flint Journal not to print the addresses of the deceased in the obituary column as a crime prevention measure and asking that they run photographs of the deceased in the newspaper. Ms. Sutton has was voted Mother of the Year at Charity U.M.C., and honored by the black women' s caucus. She has raised four children.

 

July 2006

Ms. Annie Jackson Ms. Annie Jackson has been awarded the Herman Sr. &  Iris B. Marable Senior Citizen of the Month Award for July 2006.  Annie Jackson has been very active in the community. She serves with the Flint Neighborhood Coalition, Flint-Genesee Neighborhood Roundtable, Genesee Action Agency CYO #1, Northland Block Club, Flint North Central Weed and Seed, Great Lakes Baptist Women's Association, Northeast Village Community Development Corporation, and the Flint Urban Gardening & Land Use Corporation. She is an active volunteer with the Beecher Schools.

 

August 2006

Ms. Lucille Hawkins Ms. Lucille Hawkins has been awarded the Herman Sr. &  Iris B. Marable Senior Citizen of the Month Award for August 2006.  Lucille Hawkins is a life member of the NAACP, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and the Phi Delta Kappa Sorority. She participates in the Ladies Auxiliary of Peter Claver, the St.Cecilia Society, Hooper High School Alumni Flint Chapter, and the Alabama State University Alumni. She has been honored for her contributions to teacher preparation in Flint Schools, awarded the Dukette Memory Award from Christ the King Catholic Church, the Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church Humanitarian Award, and the National Association of Negro and Business & Professional Women's Club Parent Award. Ms. Hawkins supports the Father Dukette Century Club, Creative Expressions Dance Studio, and the American Cancer Society. She regularly visits nursing homes and supports various youth organizations.

 

September 2006

Ms. Devonna Watson Ms. Devonna Watson  has been awarded the Herman Sr. &  Iris B. Marable Senior Citizen of the Month Award for September 2006.  Devonna Watson is active at St. Paul Lutheran Church serving as the captain of ushers. She is involved in civic affairs; is a regular attendee at city council meetings; and has participated in many political campaigns. She is a cancer survivor and, she gives of herself, often volunteering to help youth, seniors, and those in need. .

 

October 2006  (Posthumously)

Mr. Roscoe Roberts, Sr. Mr. Roscoe Roberts, Sr. has been awarded the Herman Sr. &  Iris B. Marable Senior Citizen of the Month Award for September 2006.  Roscoe Roberts, Sr, who died on November 23, 2006 at the age of 88, was a faithful member of House of Prayer Missionary Baptist Church where he served on the deacon and usher boards. A retired member of UAW Local 659, He was among the first African-Americans to serve as a Flint Police Reserve Officer. He was devoted to his family, friends and the young men for whom he served as a mentor. He was known as an avid gardener who often gave crops away to his neighbors. .

 

November 2006 (Posthumously)

Dr. J. Merrill Spencer Dr. J. Merrill Spencer Named The Herman Sr. & Iris Marable Senior Citizen of the Month For November 2006. The late J. Merrill Spencer of Flint was awarded the Herman Sr. & Iris B. Marable Senior Citizen of the Month Award posthumously for November 2006.  Dr. Spencer, who died November 6, at the age of 86, was active in the Flint community and well known as a mortician, civil rights activist, civic leader, teacher and elected official. Born in Americus, GA he moved to Flint in mid 1950's. He was a 1948 graduate of Atlanta's Morehouse College where he met his wife, Edith Iola Prunty. They were married for 59 years at the time of his death. He served as a teacher in several cities in Georgia. Dr. Spencer also graduated from the Atlanta College of Mortuary Science, and he earned his Masters degree from Atlanta University in 1952. He was employed in Flint at Hurley Hospital and the U.S. Post Office. He opened The House of Spencer Mortuary in 1955. He operated his funeral home for over 40 years. He was an early sponsor of the Flint College and Cultural Center. Dr. Spencer was a founding member of the Community Civic League, elected to the Genesee County Board of Supervisors, and elected to the Flint Board of Education. He was a Vice-President of the Flint NAACP and he was active in Democratic Party politics and served as a delegate to the 1976 Democratic National Convention. Dr. Spencer became known internationally when he successfully sued Flint Memorial Park Cemetery in the mid-1960's because they discriminated against minorities prohibiting their burials. His lawsuit was filed when he was not allowed to bury his mother there. Dr. Spencer also filed a lawsuit that helped to establish a precedent in the area of housing discrimination. Dr. Spencer was a World War II veteran, and he was a life member of Flint's George Washington Carver VFW Post #3791. He was an active Life Member of the NAACP, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Society of Afro-American Police, Disabled American Veterans, Morehouse Alumni Association, The Eureka Lodge F and AM, PHA, Oman Temple No.72, and local, state, and national mortuary associations. Dr. Spencer received numerous awards and honors during his lifetime including an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Morehouse. He was proud to have received the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women Frederick Douglass Award.