By Barnett Wright
Times staff
More than 1,500 people including Birmingham Mayor William Bell; former Gov. Jim Folsom; close friends; former classmates and foot soldiers attended a memorial service last week for Washington Booker III.
Booker, a decorated veteran, foot soldier, political activist, and family man, touched the lives of people from the grass roots level to carpeted offices of the Alabama statehouse.
He died on January 20.
“At the end of the day he always had that smile,” Bell said. “He always believed in the least in our community trying to get them involved . . . from the day I first met him to the day he died Booker has always been about the average man and the average woman, to make sure they got their just dues.”
Booker’s daughter, Keresten, talked about what it was like “to grow up in Bookerland.”
“Growing up we had a lot of fun . . . he had no problem getting on the floor and playing Barbie house,” she said. “I got to see him as a whole person. My dad was awesome. He was silly. I’m proud to be his child and I’m proud to look like him.”
She encouraged friends and family to not mourn for her father. “Don’t wallow in your sadness,” she said. “He’s okay.”
Birmingham attorney Charlie Waldrep told lighthearted stories about being called “Mr. Charlie” by Booker and how some whites in the audience might not get what the term meant in the African-American community.
“I have grieved for Book like he was a member of the family,” Waldrep said.
Booker attended Ullman High School and joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967 where he was a decorated veteran. He joined the civil rights movement at age 14 and remained in the movement until his death on January 20, 2016, which was his birthday. Booker was born in 1949.
The service was held Jan. 30, 2016 at Sixth Avenue Baptist Church and officiated by Rev. John Cantelow, III.
