Tribute to a Drum Major

On April 5, 1985 the world lost a special woman who believed the song "If I Can Help Somebody" that her living would not be in vain. Her name was Elizabeth Pinckney.

Today I was googling her name and found nothing. I thought what a shame that her contributions to the world were not available online.

She was born in Philadelphia, Pa on June 16, 1926. Her life was happy until her Mother died when she was just 15 years old. Her dad was a very light skin Navy Officer and her mom was an brown beauty. When her mother died her father remarried a very light divocee with one male child. Both were almost white. When her father died a few years later Elizabeth was living a life of hell primarily because her stepmother and stepbrother treated her like "Cinderella." She had to use the backdoor of her own house and was primarily demoted to that of a maid.

When she went to college she began to envision the possibilities for a bright future. Although Elizabeth had to work two jobs get through school on her own she fought the good fight and made it. She worked at Byberry Mental Institution in Philadelphia and as a maid in a rich persons house. By graduation she had become the Campus Queen of Cheney State Teachers College and thereafter met her prince charming, Edward. Despite the challenges in life, Elizabeth always was a giver.

As a second grade teacher at Kenderton Grade School she always demanded the best for her students. She went overboard to make sure that she empowered her students and let them know that they were loved and important.

She had been outside laughing and joking with her friends moments before she died at 55 years of age. Elizabeth told her husband that she was going to just take a short nap of which she never awoke from on that Good Friday. The shock of her death touched thousands of people across the country. After teaching for over 25 years she truely touched generations. Her funeral was huge not because she was famous but because she gave, loved and cared.

Giving came first and she passed that mission down to so many people.

RIP Elizabeth Pinckney.

Thank you for making the world a little better place. Oh and now you are on the internet. This is my tribute to a true Drum Major.