Ms. Errica Odessa Lee, 39, of 100 Belle Flower Court, entered into eternal rest Sunday, September 5, 2010, at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center. She was the daughter of the late Mr. Odell Lee, Sr. and late Mrs. Amanda Mills Lee.

Ms. Lee was a member of Cleveland Chapel Baptist Church. She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She was a former employee of the administration offices of Adidas and Ford Motor Credit Company. Her new venture of employment was with Eclipse Entertainment & Home Solutions of Greenville, SC as General Manager.

Ms. Lee leaves to cherish her memories a daughter, Ms. Zariyah Mkade Lee of the home; Ms. Shug, her cherished cat; three sisters, Mrs. Kathy (Willie) Crocker of Wichita, KS, Ms. Alberta Lee of Bladensburg, MD, and Mrs. Dianne (Frankie) Brown of Campobello, SC; three brothers, Mr. Odell (Jeanette) Lee, Jr. of Fayetteville, NC, Mr. Thomas Lee of Spartanburg, SC, and Mr. James Douglas (Pamela) Lee of Moore, SC; and a host of aunts, uncle, cousins, nieces and nephews.

Marie Adrianne Boyer Brown, age 95, died Wednesday, August 26, 2010 at Woldenberg Rehabilitation Center, Algiers, La. She was a native of New Orleans, La. and resident of Algiers, La. Marie Boyer Brown was a retired Orleans Parish School teacher and Social Worker for a combined service of 44 years. After retirement from the school system she worked in the social service capacity for Reality House Senior Center of New Orleans. Marie Boyer was the beloved daughter of the late Albert Pierre Boyer and Henrietta Lewis Boyer. Loving wife of the late Chester J. Brown and grandmother of the late Dr. Gina Elizabeth Brown-Burrell.

Mother of Adrianne Brown-Texeira of New York and Leslie J. Brown (Felicia) of Harvey, LA. Grandmother of M. Dominique Trenier of New York and Kelvin A. Brown, She is also survived by godchild, Euphemie Brown; grand-niece, Janet Andrew Jones; devoted friend, Eugenia Adams; and a host of other grand, great-grand and great-great-grand-nieces and nephews and many friends. Marie B. Brown was a proud alumnus of McDonogh 35 High School Class of 1932, Valencia C. Jones Normal School and Xavier University of New Orleans, LA.

She was one of the first persons of color to receive a Master’s degree from the School of Social Work at Tulane University in New Orleans. Mrs. Brown was a member of St. Raymond Catholic Church for over 45 years, an auxiliary member of the Knights of Peter Claver combined courts #50 and #78; a life member of the Alpha Gamma Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority and a member of several organizations including Xavier University Alumni Chapter #1, The N.O. Retired Teacher’s Assoc., LA Teacher’s Assoc., the N.A.A.C.P. and Amistad.

She loved playing bridge and was a member of the Noonday Bridge Club, Monday Bridge Club, Les Amis and the St. Gabriel Trumpeteers. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, September 4, 2010 at St. Raymond and St. Leo the Great Catholic Church, 2916 Paris Avenue, New Orleans, LA. Visitation from 10:00 a.m. until time of Mass. Interment in St. Louis Cemetery #3.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations in memory of Marie Boyer Brown to Xavier University of Louisiana, St. Katharine Drexel Chapel, 1 Drexel Drive, Box 66, New Orleans, LA 70128. Make checks payable to Xavier University of Louisiana. Professional Services Entrusted to MAJESTIC MORTUARY, (504) 523-5872

Radio pioneer Faye Foppé Fisher has died.

Fisher passed away early Thursday morning at Christus Schumpert Medical Center. She was 77.

Fisher, commonly known as Foxy Faye, was a trailblazer in local radio as the first black female radio personality in Shreveport and the second black female radio personality in the state.

The Grambling State University alumna and longtime member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. started her career in 1954 at KANV, which later became KOKA, where she hosted “Faye in Hi-Fi.”

Her career spanned more than 50 years before she retired in 2004 due to complications from diabetes. However, her impact on the radio industry endeared her to many.

“For me, she was kind of like my second mom. She was definitely my radio mom,” said radio personality and business owner Quenn Echols. “In my career, I’ve only had the honor of meeting a few firsts, but boy was that a first when I met her. She was definitely one of a kind and truly a blessing to everyone who came across her.”

Music producer and former disc jockey Ken Shepherd echoed similar sentiments about the woman he also refers to as his second mom.

“I started hanging around that radio station when I was 14 and all of them, her, B.B. Davis, Gay Poppa, they raised me. They nurtured me through and that was a long time ago, but Faye and I, she’s just been one of my best friends for 40 years,” Shepherd said. “She’s absolutely a media and broadcasting trailblazer and the older generation knows that, but everybody need to know that.”

Funeral arrangements are pending, but services are tentatively set for Sept. 11.

Betsy A. Page of Ewing Township passed away peacefully on Aug. 30, 2010, at Capital Health Regional Medical Center. Born in Durham, N.C., Betsy was a longtime Ewing Township resident. Betsy was a graduate of the North Carolina Central University. She was an elementary school teacher in the Trenton public school system for more than 30 years before retiring. Betsy was a member of the Cadwalader-Asbury United Methodist Church where she served as the financial secretary of the United Methodist Women, a member of the Fellowship Club, the Bible Study Group and the Church Finance Committee. In previous years Betsy was an active member of the Trenton Alumni Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.

Daughter of the late Joseph and Hettie Page, niece of the late Anne B. Hutchings, sister of the late Joseph and Benjamin Page, Mattie L. Green, Juanita Robinson, and aunt of the late Phillip Page. Surviving are her brother, William Page; sister, Laura Ruth Bolding; brother-in-law, Edward Robinson; several nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great- nephews, cousins, as well as many relatives and friends including Carol Minotti, Jim Wallace, Barbara Brown, Vernon and Leona Hammond; and her constant companion, Pumpkin, her cat.

Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Cadwalader-Asbury United Methodist Church, 900 Stuyvesant Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618. Interment will be in Ewing Cemetery. Calling hours will be from 9 to 10 p.m. Saturday at the church. Arrangements by Campbell Funeral Chapel, Trenton. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Cadwalader –Asbury United Methodist Church, 900 Stuyvesant Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618.

Barbara Ann Tarver, who worked in Baltimore schools as a teacher and assistant principal for more than three decades, died Aug. 22 from injuries sustained in a two-car crash early that morning on Interstate 70. She was 61.

Ms. Tarver was born, raised and educated in Baltimore. She graduated from Western High School in 1966 and earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from what is now Coppin State University, where she joined the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. in 1970.

A few years later, she received a master’s degree from the same school, remembers friend Ann Ezell.

“She loved people; she never met a stranger,” Ms. Ezell said.

They met in 1974, as young teachers at Beechfield Elementary School, and became close, socializing and raising their children together. Ms. Tarver’s daughter, Joi Myles, was the center of her life, Ms. Ezell said.

Ms. Tarver also taught at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School and Garrison Middle School, Ms. Ezell said. She last worked at a school in West Baltimore’s Lafayette Square before her retirement about three years ago.

Her fashion sense skewed toward loud colors and bold, glittery jewelry that matched her personality, Ms. Ezell said. She loved to read, complete word search puzzles and mentor city students through various after-school programs.

And Ms. Tarver continued to challenge herself, receiving an “Aspiring Leadership” certificate from the Johns Hopkins University, family members said.

Funeral services were held Saturday at the St. John AME Church.

Besides her daughter, Ms. Tarver is survived by a sister, Joella Malone, and her father, Henry Tarver, all of Baltimore.

Helen Rouce taught some of her most-lasting life lessons by example.

“She was the best bridge player in Tulsa and always took home the prize,” said Effie Lee, Rouce’s close friend of nearly 60 years. “But you enjoyed playing with Helen, because if you made a mistake, she wouldn’t gripe like some do.”

Sweet-natured almost to a fault, Rouce rarely got upset about anything, Lee said, adding that she never knew anyone who didn’t like Rouce, “and there aren’t many I can say that about.”

The longtime Tulsa-area educator was similarly hailed in the classroom, where she was known as patient, encouraging and quick to praise.

Rouce’s teaching career, which included lengthy stints at Booker T. Washington High School and Langston University, spanned five decades, bridging the eras before and after state schools were desegregated.

Helen Adams Rouce died Aug. 18 at her daughter’s home in Houston, where she’d been living since her health declined. She was 99.

A funeral service is set for 1 p.m. Friday at St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church in Tulsa under the direction of Russworm Funeral Home of Watonga.

Rouce’s famously sweet nature had its limits.

Once, as a student, she was denied the opportunity to accept an honor at an assembly because she was black. When offered to have it presented in private, Rouce refused to accept it at all.

But for all the injustices she witnessed or experienced during the era of segregation, she never harbored any animosity, friends and relatives say.

“That was probably her most important lesson to others,” said Rita Duncan, a friend who considered Rouce her second mother. “She should be on her way to sainthood. She was that kind of person.”

A native of Denver who had a master’s degree from the University of Denver, Rouce started her teaching career in 1933 at Booker T. Washington School in Sand Springs.

The old school, which is set to be torn down soon, served black students from first through 12th grade until 1966, when schools were desegregated.

Rouce, who taught math and science, went on to teach at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, at Langston University and briefly at Hale High School in Tulsa before she retired in 1976.

Rouce co-founded and was the first president of Tulsa’s chapter of Jack and Jill of America, an organization for black mothers and their children.

She also was a longtime member of St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church.

Besides making “the world’s best cookies,” Rouce was the devoted church member you could always depend on, said Sandy Boyd, who leads St. Aidan’s altar guild.

“Whatever she was doing, she got it done,” Boyd said. “She was treasurer for a long time and paid all the bills. She made sure the altar was set up. She was friendly and always glad to see you.”

Rouce kept close ties with several organizations. She joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority while in college and was active with the group, the oldest Greek-letter organization in the country for black college women, for the rest of her life. She was recognized in 2004 for her 75 years of continuous service.

Rouce’s late husband of 59 years, J.A. Rouce, was a fellow educator and school principal.

Rouce is survived by two daughters, Myrtle Fanchon Rouce Hamilton and Sandra Diane Rouce; five grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Hilah Glaze, a mother of five and a former Miss Morgan State, died Aug. 21 of a heart infection at St. Agnes Hospital. She was 83.

Hilah Brown, the sixth of 10 children of a homemaker and a mail carrier, was born in Baltimore and raised in Upton.

After graduating from St. Frances Academy in 1946, she attended Morgan State. Mrs. Glaze was an active and prominent figure on campus, joining the majorettes and Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and being crowned “Miss Morgan” in 1950. She graduated the next year with a major in English.

That same year, she married Jackson G. Glaze. Mr. Glaze died in 2001.

Mrs. Glaze was a longtime resident of Fairmount Park and spent her time as a homemaker and raising five children. She loved to entertain and cook.

“All of my friends would want to come over to eat,” said her son, Mark Glaze of Ellicott City. “Nobody ever left hungry.”

She was known for her sugar cookies, which she gave as gifts during the holidays. She kept the recipe a secret.

Services are at 1 p.m. Saturday at St. Cecilia’s Roman Catholic Church, 3300 Clifton Ave.

In addition to her son, Mrs. Glaze is survived by four other children: Marty Glaze of Hanover, Jackie Wallace and Lisa Hunt of Charlotte, N.C., and Renee King of Hunting Ridge;13 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Willie Mae Danford Miles, wife of a former Florida A&M University (FAMU) dean of students Rev. Moses General Miles, passed away on August 23, at the Miracle Hill Nursing Home in Tallahassee. Her funeral service is scheduled for Saturday, August 28, at 11 a.m. at the Philadelphia Primitive Baptist Church located at 840 Dunn Street, Tallahassee.

Miles taught at the Lucy Moten Elementary School, which is now known as the FAMU Developmental Research School.

Gladys Lang, a former coworker of Miles, expressed that Miles loved her students.

“Mrs. Miles was an outstanding educator whose love and concern for all children was unparalleled,” said Lang. “As a master teacher, she worked incessantly to bring out the best in all of her students.”

Miles was a strong supporter of her husband, who was a founding member of the FAMU Foundation, Inc. and later became its president in 1985.

In 1956, Rev. Miles, a prominent pastor, was responsible for posting bail for Wilhelmina Jakes Street and Carrie Patterson to be released from jail after their refusal to move to the back of a Tallahassee city bus, which initiated the Tallahassee Bus Boycott.

Miles served along side her husband as first lady of Philadelphia Primitive Baptist Church beginning in 1948 when her husband became pastor. She was the proud founder of the Matron’s Auxiliary at Philadelphia Primitive Baptist Church.

She was one of the first initiates of the Gamma Eta Sigma chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., which later became the Tallahassee Alumnae Chapter. She served as chapter president from 1965-1967 and was a devoted adviser to the Beta Alpha chapter at FAMU for many years. One of Miles’ advisee remembers her very well.

“Soror Miles was the epitome of finer womanhood,” said Lisa Lang. “She was an adviser who provided extraordinary leadership, guidance and counseling. Her availability and service to the chapter was limitless.”

Miles received her bachelor’s degree from Morris Brown College and her master’s degree from Ohio State University. Miles was a life member of the FAMU National Alumni Association and member of the Leon County Alumni chapter.

Miles was the mother of Keith Alexander Miles, the general manager of FAMU’s WANM-FM 90.5, and Andrea Cheryl, who preceded her in death.

Lee Myrtle Chavers taught music at Cleveland elementary schools, led several choirs and performed from Cleveland to Austria.

Chavers died Aug. 12 at Sunrise Pointe, Maple Heights. She was 84.

She was born Lee Myrtle Simpson in Cleveland. She began playing piano at age 9 at Sunday school at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. She graduated from John Adams High School and Central State University. She also studied music at Western Reserve University.

Chavers worked for the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas for two years. Then she taught from 1969 to 1987 at several East Side schools, including Washington Irving, Case, Woodland, Warner, Moses Cleveland, Revere, Bethune and Orr.

She directed a choir for her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta. She founded a retirees’ choir for the Cleveland Teachers Union and took it to national gatherings. She sang alto parts and played piano with the Ecumenical Disciples and the Heritage Choir, performing with the latter in Austria.

She also traveled in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. She moved to still-rural Woodmere in 1957.

Chavers donated her remains to Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. A memorial service is planned for 7 p.m. today at Calvary Congregational Church. Survivors include her husband, Clarence Chavers, Jr.; three sons and two granddaughters.

Civil Rights icon and Florida A&M University (FAMU) alumna Wilhelmina Jakes Street passed away at the age 80. Jakes Street is highly celebrated for her role in initiating the Tallahassee Bus Boycott of 1956.

Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday, August 21, at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens Central, 499 Northwest 27th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The viewing will begin at 1:30 p.m., and the funeral will follow at 2 p.m.

“We are deeply saddened and devastated over the loss of one of our trailblazers and activists for civil rights,” said Carmen Cummings, director of Alumni Affairs. “Her sacrifice, diligence and contributions to FAMU, to this community, and to the State of Florida will never go unforgotten. She will be sorely missed.”

Street was born September 14, 1929, in Hardeeville, S.C. As a result of her father’s untimely death, Jakes Street moved with her mother and siblings to West Palm Beach, Fla., where she was raised. She attended FAMU to major in education. During her time as a student at FAMU, she and her close friend, Carrie Patterson, a 20-year-old English major from Lakeland, Fla., were arrested for refusing to move to the back of a crowded city bus. This courageous act sparked what is known today as “The Tallahassee Bus Boycott.” Many prominent figures such as Rev. C. K. Steele, Rev. Herbert C. Alexander, Dr. C. U. Smith, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and several others were actively involved in supporting these students with a systematic approach to integrating the city’s public transportation system.

After graduating from FAMU in 1956, she went on to fulfill her professional aspiration as a Florida schoolteacher for 33 years. Jakes was an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Federated Women’s of Club of Fort Lauderdale; FAMU National Alumni Association; and life-long member of National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She was also a dedicated servant of New Mount Olive Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

As a FAMU student, Jakes Street lived on Jennings Street with Carrie Patterson, who is also credited with igniting the 1956 Tallahassee Bus Boycott. On January 30, 2009, Leon County officials renamed Jennings Street in Tallahassee, Fla. to Jakes & Patterson Street in their honor.

During FAMU’s 2006 Spring Commencement activities, both Patterson (posthumously) and Jakes received the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award and its first Freedom Award.

She was married to the late Neopoleon Street. She had one daughter, Priscilla Lewis (deceased).