Garnett Wilson, an ‘idol’ and longtime KCPS educator, dies at 102
Editor’s note: This feature is part of a new weekly focus from The Star meant to highlight and remember the lives of Black Kansas Citians who have died.
One school day in the mid-1950s, Garnett Wilson gave her all-Black grade-school class a lesson unlike any other they’d had, taking them to a Kansas City planetarium so they could gaze up and look to the stars.
For many of her students, Wilson’s field trips were the first time they set foot outside the highly segregated boundaries created by racist housing and commercial policies. Wilson, an educator by nature and trade, frequently found a way to show the kids in her class a universe without limits.
“In our neighborhood, we didn’t even have a pool hall, skating rink or anything. Way we got along was just stood out on the corners and talked with each other and played ball and things like that,” said Henry Levingston, 80, a former student of Wilson’s who attended Kansas City’s Bruce School from around 1949 until 1956. “But everybody, even back in those days, was talking about the best teacher.”
Wilson, whose teaching career in Kansas City Public Schools began in the early 1940s and spanned nearly 40 years, died Feb. 6 of surgical complications related to a recent physical injury she suffered from after she fell in her home. She was 102.
Born Garnett Hancock in 1919 in Lexington, Missouri, Wilson was the elder of two daughters brought into the world by her parents, William and Allie Hancock. She was raised by her father, grandmother and step-mother after her mother died when she was just three years old.
In 1936, after graduating from Lexington’s Douglas High School, Wilson decided to expand her education in the face of institutional discrimination that placed obstacles in her path. She took advantage of a so-called segregation scholarship policy in Missouri at the time, her family said, under which the state helped pay for Black students to attend colleges in neighboring states.
Wilson first attended the historically Black Western University of Quindaro, Kansas, earning an associate degree in 1938. Her sister, Auline Ray, followed her there, and recalled many times when Wilson would assist her in her studies.
“She was my idol. That’s all there was to it,” said Ray, 100. “Even though we had our differences, we always had a good time together.”
Wilson later finished her bachelor’s in education at Emporia State University, where she was forced to live off campus because of racist practices. While in college, she joined the first Greek-letter sorority for Black women, Alpha Kappa Alpha, whose famous members include Toni Morrison, Bernice King and Vice President Kamala Harris. She went on to earn a master’s degree in secondary education and counseling from the University of Denver in 1951.
Wilson remained an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha’s local chapter for more than 75 years. In many ways, she embodied the values and mission of that sisterhood throughout her life, said Donna Watson, a longtime family friend who viewed Wilson as another grandmother.
“She played a very pivotal role in the community,” said Watson, also an Alpha Kappa Alpha member. “… She wanted to associate with an organization that did good work and had good standing in the community. And now she has become what we call ‘an Ivy beyond the wall.’ She is the model that we use when we think about the standard.”
“When we think about excellence, we think about her,” Watson added.
Wilson began her career working in the rural Missouri town of Norborne as a teaching principal, instructing children in a two-room schoolhouse. It was about 20 miles from where she had spent her own childhood on the other side of the Missouri River.
Around 1942, Wilson packed her bags and moved to Kansas City, beginning her nearly 40-year career with Kansas City Public Schools. Over her decades in education, Wilson worked as a teacher and counselor in several KCPS schools, including Booker T. Washington School, Lincoln High School and Paseo Academy.
In the late 1950s, Wilson started dating Thomas “Dent” Wilson, the man with whom she would share 40 years of marriage. The couple were introduced by mutual friends and married in 1957, six months after they met. Wilson was unable to have children of her own, family said, but she raised two boys from her husband’s previous marriage as her own kin and frequently reminded them that God had blessed her with them instead.
Wilson’s educational role extended to her spiritual home, Bethel A.M.E. Church in Kansas City’s Wendell Phillips neighborhood. She taught Sunday School classes for many years and was also influential in several of the church’s programs, including a scholarship fund aimed toward helping its children attend college.
Her commitment to the advancement of civil rights in education and beyond was another lifelong pursuit. As a member of Kansas City’s NAACP chapter, Wilson was remembered as a tireless supporter of the organization’s mission. On a yearly basis, she competed with a friend from another church to see who could get the most memberships, said Anita Russell, the former president of Kansas City’s NAACP.
“She never won,” Russell said with a laugh. “Her friend always won, but she kept on.”
Wilson also took part in area demonstrations during the 1950s and ’60s. She was honored in 2002 among several dozen other area trailblazers during an event remembering the integration of Fairland Park, an amusement park in Kansas City that only began opening its doors to people of color year-round in 1964.
“We are moving slowly today, but at the time we had to move faster,” Wilson told the Kansas City Star in 2002. “We were glad to do it.”
In her personal life, Wilson was remembered as a force to be reckoned with on the golf course well into her elder years. Gary Wilson recalled one time his mother beat a group of younger friends even after she had completely lost vision in one of her eyes.
The family was well-traveled, taking trips across the country to the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park and New York City. Every vacation was punctuated by Wilson’s history lessons. And she was a stickler for using proper grammar and English, always reminding her kids to say “Yes” instead of “Yeah.” She once gave an earful to her nephew for mispronouncing “aunt.”
“She said, ‘Ants crawl around on the ground. I’m Aunt Garnett,” Gary Wilson, her son, said.
“We always used to joke, ‘That’s just the teacher in her,’” he added.
Wilson’s connection with her students lasted a lifetime. Gary Wilson estimated that his mother touched the lives of thousands throughout her years. He has received phone calls from friends and former students all around the country in the short time since her death.
Levingston, Wilson’s student at Bruce School during the 1950s, visited Kansas City roughly four years ago, making the trip from Oklahoma City where he now lives. While in town, he decided to gather up about 15 other schoolmates from the area and give his old teacher a surprise at her church one Sunday.
The group crept in shortly after the service began and sat silently in the pew directly behind her usual spot. The pastor then asked Wilson to stand and look back.
“And she turned around and saw us, and she said, ‘Oh, my children! My children!’,” Levingston said. “And she remembered every last one of us.”
Wilson is survived by her sister, Auline Ray; sons, Thomas D. Wilson Jr., Gary Wilson and C.W. Harvey; five grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and one great-great grandchild.
Other Remembrances
Faith “Peaches” Scroggins, who dedicated her life and career to caring for the developmentally disabled, died Feb. 3 in the University of Kansas Medical Center. She was 59.
Scroggins, the youngest of four children, was born in 1969 in Kansas City, Missouri. She attended area public schools, graduating from Central High School in 1979. She later studied nursing in Penn Valley Community College of Kansas City.
Scroggins grew up in the church, attending Paseo Baptist from childhood and later joining the congregation of Christian Tabernacle Church of God in Christ.
During her career, Scroggins worked with the New Horizons Center and the House of Care Center until she retired. She was remembered by family and friends as having a benevolent spirit, often donating money, food and clothing to those in need.
In her personal life, she enjoyed outings with family and friends, and attending wrestling matches with her grandchildren.
Scroggins is survived by her daughter, Lana Scroggins; her brother, Robert Scroggins; and three grandchildren.
Ralph Richberg, a former newsman and business manager, died Feb. 20 in Saint Luke’s East Hospital. He was 66.
While in high school, Richberg began writing articles for the Kansas City Star and its sister paper The Kansas City Times. During the 1970s, his byline graced the pages of those newspapers many times as he wrote stories about local politics, hometown heroes and other subjects.
Richberg earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri in Kansas City. He expanded his education in the field of business with a master’s degree from Monmouth College of New Jersey.
Richberg later forged a career in business management. He worked with the telephone companies Southwestern Bell and AT&T.
Richberg is survived by his wife, Gayle Richberg; his sons Phillip Richberg and Steven Richberg Sr.; and five grandchildren.
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Frank Rodgers, remembered as a major music buff who loved to catch a live show, died Feb. 16. He was 76.
Born the sixth of 10 children in 1944 in Monroe, Louisiana, Rodgers spent his childhood in the Deep South, graduating from the town’s Carroll Junior High School in 1963. He later attended Southern University and Grambling State of Louisiana.
In his professional life, Rodgers spent nearly 42 years working as an employee of General Motors. His duties there ranged from line worker to the maintenance department.
Remembered by friends and family as a music genius, Rodgers collected numerous record albums in many genres, including folk, jazz, soul and country. He and his wife Kay Rodgers, whom he married in 1985, frequently went out to see live performances together.
Rodgers is survived by his wife, Kay Rodgers; four of his siblings, Elizabeth Rodgers Clay, Rosalie Rodgers Williams, Rosie Rodgers Webb and Delores Rodgers Strong; his stepchildren, Kaiyuan Mitchell Sr. and Roshunda Mitchell; three grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.