William “Bill” Ingram Black, of Birmingham, Ala., son of James Ansel Black and Nelle Cunningham Black of Greer, South Carolina, brother of James Ansel Black, Jr of Easley, South Carolina and husband of Eugenia “Jene” Sharp Black passed away in the company of his family on September 15, 2013. A native of Greer, South Carolina, Bill graduated from Greer High School in 1951 and The Citadel in 1955. While at the Citadel, Bill was inducted into Who’s Who In American Colleges and Universities; he received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award presented to those who best exemplify the traits of Mr. Sullivan, those being “constant helpfulness to his fellowmen, an immaculate life, and never failing fidelity to public and private trusts”; he received the Carlisle Norwood Hastie Award which is presented to the graduate selected by classmates as showing the greatest concern for other cadets. Additionally he was selected by General Mark W. Clark, President of The Citadel, to serve as his Personal Aide. At graduation, Bill was commissioned as an Officer in the United States Army and served in Fort Bliss, Texas before a two year assignment in Karlsruhe, Germany. After his military service he returned to the states where he began a career with the Southern Bell Telephone Company. Bill served his company and its subsidiaries in various leadership positions over a 36 year career with the Southern Bell Telephone Companies including AT&T, South Central Bell and BellSouth; he lived in Charlotte, Louisville, New York City, Atlanta and finally Birmingham in 1972. While living in Atlanta, he met and married his loving wife of 46 years, Jene Sharp in 1967. In 1991, he retired in Birmingham, but Bill didn’t slow down. In the early 1990’s Bill was active in a literacy program teaching adults and children to read. Seeing the need to engage literacy at an earlier age, Bill helped form a group, primarily from St. Luke’s, to tutor children at McArthur Elementary School (now closed). This effort led to the formation of the PreSchool Partners program in 1995. PreSchool Partners is a program to help at risk children and their families embrace a solid literacy foundation so the children are started on a path to academic success at an early age. Additionally, Bill helped create a St. Luke’s sponsored program called Norwood Resource Center (NRC) in 2000. The NRC provides services to help residents of the Norwood Community improve the quality of their lives. Bill was a member of The Country Club of Birmingham and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. In his 40 years of service to St. Luke’s he was privileged to be nominated and elected to the Vestry on four different occasions. During those terms, He served as Senior Warden (once) and Junior Warden (twice). Additionally, Bill was the Chairman of the Building and Grounds Committee during the expansion and renovation of the church in the early 1990’s and served as a Lay Eucharist Minister for over 20 years. All who met Bill would describe him as a true gentleman. He treated everyone with respect and dignity no matter their race, gender, occupation, or education. He was kind, caring, loving, and honorable to all. He stood boldly for what is just and right with the full shield of God’s grace at his side. He gave to those in need and felt that it was his privileged and his honor to advocate for those with no voice or resources. His sense of duty was clear and forthright. Many have described him as a saint who never spoke a harsh word towards anyone. Bill Black is survived by his children, Jennifer Black Gray (Trippe) and William Ingram Black, Jr. (Allie) and five grandchildren William Ingram Black, III, Davis Reynolds Gray, Mary Hollingsworth Black, Lillie Caroline Gray and Stowe Daniel Black. A Memorial Service to celebrate Bill’s life will be held on Thursday, September 19 at 11 a.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. The family requests that memorials be made to the Saint Luke’s Foundation for the benefit of the PreSchool Partners Scholarship Fund. Tags: 1955
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