Warrensville Heights mayor, former Chicago Bull to speak at Achievers banquet

Staff report

WARREN

Bradley D. Sellers, first-round draft pick of the Chicago Bulls and mayor of his hometown, Warrensville Heights, since 2011, will be guest speaker for the 32nd annual Trumbull County African American Achievers Hall of Fame Banquet at 6 p.m. Saturday at DiVieste’s Banquet Hall, 754 North River Road.

Sellers, who played his college ball at Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin, played with the Bulls from 1986 to 1989, retiring from the NBA in 1993 with a 6.3 points-per game average. He was Warrensville Heights economic development director 11 years before becoming mayor.

Seven people will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year: Gloria Rodgers, The Rev. Charles Daniels, Coralee Harper Fowlis, Eddie Colbert III, Franklin “Frankie” Parker Jr., Kent Barnes Sr., and Kenya Roberts-Howard.

Two students will receive scholarships, and longtime African American Achievers treasurer Jimmie Ware, who died last year, will be honored.

Tickets to the event, which cost $30 in advance and $35 at the door, can be purchased by calling Parker at 330-720-2215.

The inductees are:

Gloria R. Rodgers is a lifelong member of Grace A.M.E. Church who graduated from Warren G. Harding High School and attended Central State University.

She retired from Delphi Automotive Systems as a supervisor. She is active in her church, where she serves as a steward, class leader, director of the women’s choir and youth choir, is member of the mass choir, usher board, Christian Education Department and supervisor for youth ushers.

She is devoted to the Women’s Missionary Society, has been president of the Warren Civic League 12 years and has been the debutante coordinator 30 years.

The Rev. Charles Daniels has been married to Theresa McBride Daniels for 22 years, and they have five children and eight grandchildren. He has been employed at Compass Family & Community Services as clinical counselor 14 years.

He is senior pastor of People’s Chapel Church of God. He graduated from Warren Western Reserve High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology at Kent State University and a master’s degree from Geneva Christian college in Organizational Leadership. He also attended Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Malone College and Anderson University.

He is a board member of the Needle’s Eye Community Center in Youngstown and was an Urban League of Trumbull County and Raymond John Wean Foundation board member. He has been a high-school basketball referee for 24 years.

Coralee Harper Fowlis, an Indiana native, attended Butler University in Indianapolis, where she met Ronald P. Fowlis, and they were married in 1956. They moved to Warren in 1957.

She is a member of East Side Church of Christ, where she ushers, is a member of the women’s council and sang in the choir. She is a member of the NAACP and is past member of the Ministers Wives group and the Foster Parent Association.

She fostered nine children through the Trumbull County Children Services Board. A retiree of the Warren City Schools after 33 years as a baker, she worked at Discovery Day Care for 12 years.

Eddie L. Colbert III was born and raised in Ashtabula and graduated from Edgewood High School, where he received many awards in football. He attended Youngstown State University, majoring in criminal justice studies with a focus on political science. At YSU he met Amanda Latham, who became his wife.

He worked several years as case manager for Associates of Child Counseling and Guidance before he started a career in sales and is now employed by Coca-Cola.

He was elected Warren’s 7th Ward councilman in 2008 and served three terms. He is now councilman at large. He volunteers with the Buddy Walk and for community clean ups and service days.

Franklin “Franky” Parker Jr. is committed to advocacy for others. He’s a Warren native and Vietnam veteran. He has played an integral role in the development of hundreds of children through Warren Schools football and basketball programs. He volunteers for the Inspiring Minds organization.

He and his wife, Arlene, have been married 25 years. He is a Warren G. Harding High School graduate and was most valuable player of the 1972-73 basketball team. He worked at Republic Steel for 38 years and is a paraprofessional for Warren City Schools.

Kent B. Barnes Sr. is pastor of One Nation Kingdom Ministries, 1625 Niles Road, a nondenominational ministry he founded in 2011. From this ministry came the No Child Left Behind Back To School Festival, one of the biggest book-bag giveaway programs in the community, launched in 2012.

He also created the Community Outreach Food Program serving senior citizens and physically challenged people. He earned a bachelor’s degree in theology, a master’s in ministry and doctorate in theology.

Kenya A. Roberts-Howard is executive director of the YWCA of Warren. She has worked in community organizations and school districts as tutor, teacher, mentor, school-community liaison, after-school coordinator, assistant director and development director.

Before working at the YWCA, she was a coordinator at the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati and master’s degrees from Westminster University and YSU.

Student-scholarship recipients are Courtnai Richardson and Elijah Burch.

Richardson, a senior at Warren G. Harding High School, is member of the majorette line. She is president of the senior class and Interact Club and is a member of student council, Game Changers and National Honor Society. She is a volunteer at St. Joseph Warren Hospital. She plans to major in pre-med with a minor in Spanish and hopes to attend Ohio State University.

Burch is the son of Amy and Alfie Burch and a member of Monument of Faith Church, where he is a youth-ministry volunteer. He’s a two-year member of the National Honor Society. He participates in Relay for Life and is a member of the Game Changers leadership program by serving as referee for youth flag football games. He won the 2016 Academic Raider of the Year Award. He was first-team all-conference in football and accepted a full scholarship to Ashland University.