EVERETTE CAMILLE ROBERTS BROWN
Everette Camille Roberts Brown, 96, departed this life on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020, at her home.
The love of education for Everette Camille Roberts Brown incorporated facilitating learning, acquiring knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits into her multifaceted roles as educator, wife, mother, community servant and devoted member of Mount Pisgah African Methodist Episcopal Church. Everette came into the world as an inquisitive, vivacious and purposeful soul on Oct. 13, 1923, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, guided by her loving parents, the late Alonza L. Roberts and M. Capitola Richardson Roberts.
In 1931, the family moved to Sumter and was drawn to the progressive, socially conscious and biblically-based Mount Pisgah African Methodist Episcopal Church. She and her older sister of two years, the late Florea, grew up in the church and with their parents embraced the church vision of leadership, social development and service to the needy. Everette's strong religious foundation enabled her to develop an unshakable faith that enabled her to excel.
She graduated as valedictorian of her class in 1939 and salutatorian of her 1943 class at South Carolina State College. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education in English with a minor in Social Studies and became a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Intrigued with the pursuit of social, spiritual and physical development ignited by her church and fueled by her AKA sisterhood, in the fall of that same year she received a Bachelor of Science in Library Science from Atlanta University.
Mrs. Brown held a life membership in NEA-R and SCEAR, and served as president of the local chapter and as District Director 7. In 1985, Sumter School District No. 17 acknowledged Mrs. Brown's 38 years of service to youth of the community and her lasting influence on the lives of many boys and girls who came under her guidance. In 2006, Lemira initiated School Districts 2 and 17 to recognize Mrs. Brown's contributions through a Sumter County Council Proclamation declaring Nov. 16, 2006, as Everette Brown Literacy Day.
On Sept. 15, 2016, her companion of 70 years, Huroy H. Brown, died quietly at home just two months after she had been honored in the 2016 Boule in Atlanta for being a Diamond Soror.
Mrs. Brown thoroughly enjoyed poetry and developed a diverse repertoire of value-based childrens' poems which she recited often to her children and all youth with whom she interfaced. She loved to travel, entertain, cook and explore new ideas. She persevered with a champion's heart from days of segregation through early periods of integration and did her part as a stellar role model to help usher in the era of equal opportunity for all.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Florea Geneva Roberts McCullough; and her daughter, Evetta B. Vaugh.
She leaves to cherish her memory: 23 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren. Her 13 grandchildren include Maryam Dorcely, daughter of Huroy Jr.; Jamila, Khalid, Faruq, Aleema and Nasiim, children of Hakiim; Capitola, Marion and Kadijah, children of Evetta; and Jason, Elizabeth, Thomas and Timothy, children of Sammy. Daughters-in-law are Shakura, wife of Hakiim, and Joyce, wife of Sammy.
The homegoing service for Everette Camille Roberts Brown will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Mt. Pisgah AME Church, 217 W. Bartlette St., Sumter, with burial at Hillside Memorial Gardens, 2561 Cains Mill Road, Sumter.
Bostick-Tompkins Funeral Home of Sumter Inc. has been entrusted with the arrangements.
Condolences may be sent by visiting www.bosticktompkinsinc.com.