FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS: Viewing and service will be held at: The Howard University School of Law Dunbarton Chapel
2900 Van Ness Street, NW, Washington, DC
Saturday, Feb. 18, 2006 Viewing will be at 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. Funeral Service at 11 a.m. Internment will be held at the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, 4001 Suitland Rd., Suitland, MD.
A celebration will be held at THEARC, located at 1901 Mississippi Ave., SE, Washington, DC at 3 p.m.
Please send donations in lieu of flowers to: The United Black Fund, 2500 Martin Luther King, Jr., Ave, SE, Washington, DC 20020 in C/O The Wilhelmina Rolark Higher Education Scholarship Fund to benefit women enrolling in graduate or professional studies in law, journalism or public policy.
Save the Date: 2nd Annual Black Press All Star Awards September 14-17, 2006 in Baltimore, MD.
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Washington Informer widow and mother dies at 89
(Black Press.org) -- Former DC mayor Marion Barry and civil rights leader Rev. Joseph Lowery, whose recent remarks at the funeral of Coretta Scott King brought tears to the eyes of many, will deliver the eulogy of attorney Wilhelmina J. Rolark, 89. Barry, now a District of Columbia councilman for the ward deeply effected by Rolark's work, will offer remarks as well. Her long-time friends, including Dr. Dorothy Height, president emeritus of the National Council of Negro Women, will celebrate her life in a “home going” service this weekend.
Rolark, a pioneering civil rights activist and former D.C. Council woman died Tuesday, Feb. 14, 1:30 p.m. at the Greater Southeast Hospital. The cause of death was colon cancer.
Rolark’s step-daughter, Denise Rolark-Barnes, who for the past ten years has been publisher of The Washington Informer newspaper, which Rolark and her husband co-founded, reflected on the life-lessons. Rolark-Barnes began working at the newspaper in her youth and became managing editor 25 years ago, operating in an industry still dominated by men. What she learned from her step-mother helped prepare her.
Rolark mentored younger women, including former D.C. Council woman Sandy Allen, who also represented Ward 8. “She was my mentor because she was always straight-forward, always caring, and always compassionate,” Allen said. “I’m deeply grieved by her passing because Mrs. Rolark was a champion for the people in our community,” Allen added. Allen worked with Rolark and her husband building on the tradition of the Annual Ward 8 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade.
On Friday, March 17, 2006, Rolark and the late John H. Johnson who will both be the first two people inducted in the Historical Black Press Foundation's Black Press Fallen Heroes Hall of Fame. The event will take place in Washington, DC as part of HBPF's Black Press Month corporate luncheon. For more information about the event will be available at www.BlackPressWeek.com beginning February 20, 2006.
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