Barbara Dixon Simpkins, D.C. Schools Administrator, 75, Washington Post
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/19/AR2009121902310.html
Barbara Dixon Simpkins, 75
D.C. schools administrator Barbara Dixon Simpkins dies at 75
December 20, 2009
Barbara Dixon Simpkins, 75, a former D.C. public schools administrator and
past national president of the Links, a black women's service organization,
died Dec. 10 [2009] at her home in Fort Washington.
A spokesman for the Maryland medical examiner's office said Dr. Simpkins had
cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Simpkins retired in 1995 from the D.C. public schools as deputy director
of the Title 1 federal program, which provides money to help schools with
disadvantaged students.
She was active in several women's organizations, including the Links, which
she led from 1998 to 2002, and where she was instrumental in raising money
and overseeing the building of schools for children in South Africa.
In 1999, Dr. Simpkins was selected by Ebony magazine as one of the country's
most influential black Americans.
Her son LuBara Dixon "Dickey" Simpkins, a former Chicago Bulls forward, once
told the Chicago Sun-Times, "When I look back at all that my mother has
accomplished professionally and personally basically as the head of a
one-parent household, I think it's unbelievable.
"When I think of all the times she would race home from her job to get me to
a basketball game, that I just find amazing. The balance she managed to
maintain in her life has been incredibly inspirational."
Barbara Jean Dixon was born in Pensacola, Fla., where her father was a
Baptist minister and her mother a teacher. Barbara served as pianist and
organist at her father's church for more than a decade and later told the
Sun-Times, "Faith and education were cornerstones of our household."
She received a bachelor's degree in music education from Florida A&M
University and a master's degree in education from Temple University in
Philadelphia. She received a doctorate in education from Nova Southeastern
University in Florida in 1978.
She moved in 1972 to the Washington area, where she worked in the D.C.
public school system and got involved in community groups. She was the
organizer and first president of the Prince George's County chapter of the
Links. She was a longtime member of Shiloh Baptist Church in Northwest
Washington and had recently joined Fort Washington Baptist Church.
Her marriage to Luvert Simpkins ended in divorce.
Besides Dickey Simpkins of Buffalo Grove, Ill., survivors include another
son, Monti Simpkins of Fort Washington; and five grandchildren.
--
Hamil R. Harris