C H A P T E R N E W S
Sometime in the 1960’s, Brother Washington became a member of the Tuskegee Alumni Chapter. He served multiple terms as its Polemarch and Keeper of Records for several years and other positions and roles when necessary. Brother Washington has remained a faithful Life Member since joining Tuskegee Alumni, and until the COVID-19 pandemic, he still attended regular meetings. Current Polemarch of Tuskegee Alumni Chapter, Sherwin Boswell, recalled when he became a member of the Tuskegee Alumni Chapter sometime in the late 1970s and his initial encounter with Brother Washington. Brother Washington was Keeper of Records at the time, and Brother Boswell remembered that Brother Washington was not able to make a meeting one night. The then Polemarch asked Brother Boswell, who was new to the chapter, to fill in for Brother Washington, which he did. A week later, Brother Boswell met with Brother Washington to give him his notes recorded during the meeting. Brother Washington took a look at them and suggested that Brother Boswell should be the next Keeper of Records. Not knowing he was being set up, Brother Boswell was elected Keeper of Records at the next election. Brother Boswell served in the position for the next 14 years. In typical Brother Washington joking, but encouraging-fashion, he would always tell Brother Boswell that his minutes were the best, almost as good as his. Brother Boswell thanks Brother Washington
for his 66 years of dedicated service to KappaAlpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Brother Boswell noted that Brother Washington has always been a “Good Kappa” and servant to the Tuskegee Alumni Chapter. Brother Washington received a “gut-punch” on July 8, 2007, when he lost his Silhouette, Ernestine, to cancer. Ernestine was a retired public-school educator who also continued her achievements even into her retirement. In 2000, Ernestine was voted and elected “Ms. Senior Macon County.” Watching his loved-one battle this dreadful disease took him down—a life and lady he very much misses. After his official retirement in 1997, which proved to be only a de facto date, he really didn’t retire. Although not for pay, Brother Washington kept working in agriculture, helping others, and loyally continuing his organizational commitments. Some of them included: President of the Progressive Men’s Club, Vice President of the Church Housing Board, and Optimist Club member. Brother Washington regularly attendedAlabama Farmers Federation andAuburn University agriculture and forestry leader’s biannual meetings. Now 87 years old, you can find Brother Washington at home and enjoying the rewards of his labor. A typical day for Brother Washington still starts pretty early. After getting arrayed for that day’s events, he enjoys his breakfast and then reads about the “going-ons” in the MontgomeryAdvertiser newspaper. When asked his most extraordinary
achievement, Brother Washington replied with one of his signature mantras, “I’m just an ole’ country boy from South Carolina who came from having very little growing up.” He recounted trips back home to his hometown of Beaufort and how even today, his relatives there would tell him that some of the kids he grew up with, white and black, would often ask “how ‘Leon,’ (Leon, his middle name, that he was called when growing up back in Beaufort) who went to Tuskegee is doing?” The walls in his home are adorned with countless plaques, trophies, proclamations, and other relics from his years of achievement, which help to describe the accomplished man Brother Washington and further explain his impact on society. Although self-proclaiming his deserving right to be totally retired, Brother Washington jokingly admits his willingness to again leave retirement for his next job. Brother Washington’s life has been a life wrought with many achievements and encounters, none more fruitful than his life made with his family brought together by his late wife, Ernestine. Throughout our conversations, Brother Washington enthusiastically continued to proclaim his love and commitment to all-things Kappa until the day he dies. Whatever his next chapter of life, Brother Washington has, undeniably, proven himself a “Good Kappa.”
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C. Rodger Wilson Leadership Conference
T H E K H R O N I C L E | November 2021
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