It is with sadness that the Santa Maria-Lompoc Branch of the National Association For the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), it’s Officers and Executive Committee, announces the passing of NAACP Matriarch/Executive Committee member, Mrs. Nannie Elizabeth Wilkins, on May 9, 2019, at her home.
Mrs. Nannie, was an integral part of the NAACP for over 43 where she, her late husband Smiley E. Wilkins Sr., her children, Gwendolyn, Smiley Jr. , and Marcus, and grandchildren, Snow Shadow, Rebecca, and Cassandra, were/are foot soldiers for civil rights, human rights, and social justice.
In the Santa Maria-Lompoc Branch, Mrs. Nannie worked alongside her late husband who was the Branch’s longest serving President (24 1/2 years), other NAACP members and friends, to end discriminatory housing practices in the Lompoc Valley at a time when African Americans could not purchase a home in their name and to end “black balling” at the local Elks which resulted in a nation wide ban on the practice. After the death of her husband, along with the Santa Maria-Lompoc Branch, Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the City of Arroyo Grande, Law Enforcement, and the 2011 cross burning in Arroyo Grande, she was among those who advocated for increased diversity in San Luis Obispo County which resulted in the birth of the Five Cities Diversity Coalition.
She served on the Branch’s Education Committee reviewing hundreds of scholarship applications and on the Communication/Press/Publicity Committee where she communicated with members monthly reminding them of our monthly meeting, something she did on May 5th and 6th. She was one of the top ticket seller’s and THE TOP AD SELLER for the annual Freedom Fund Banquet (formerly Fashion Show).
SERVICES ARE SLATED AS FOLLOWS:
RESOLUTION: Tuesday, June 4, 2019, 9:00 a.m., Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, 105 E. Anapamu, 4th Floor, Santa Barbara, CA , will recognize Mrs. Nannie’s life and service, at their regular scheduled meeting. Those who cannot make the Santa Barbara meeting can go the Santa Maria Board of Supervisor’s Hearing Room, at 510 E. Lakeside Parkway, on the same date and time, for remote access.
VIEWING: Friday, June 7, 2019, 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., Starbuck-Lind Mortuary, 123 N. A Street, Lompoc, CA.
CELEBRATION OF LIFE: Saturday, June 8, 2019, 2 p.m., Valley of the Flowers United Church of Christ, 3346 Constellation Road, Lompoc.