Benny O'Berry

The First African-American to graduate from the University of Miami

OMEGA CHAPTER

Quick with a joke. Always flashing a smile. Looking sharp in a color-coordinated suit.

"That was just daddy," remembers Leila O'Berry, 38.

Benny O'Berry, the first African-American man to graduate from the University of Miami, long-time pastor of Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Miami, founder of the first black driving school in Miami and "just daddy," died Nov. 21 in his home. He was 93, and suffered from Alzheimer's.

"He loved to accomplish things," said Leila O'Berry, of Liberty City. "His proudest accomplishment was his family."

Everybody called him "Uncle Benny," and he could have a roomful of people laughing at his one-liners. He often collected food and toys for poor neighborhood kids. And he always encouraged everyone to get an education, his daughter remembered.

The instinct to be a father figure, his need to help and his drive to be successful came from his childhood, Leila O'Berry said.

Benny O'Berry came from a single-parent home and lost his mother when he was 16. Before his mother died, O'Berry had to drop out of school and work to support himself. But he made his mother a promise.

"He said, ‘Momma, I'm going to go back to school,' '' Leila O'Berry recalled.

And he did. He went to work at a market, where he learned Spanish. He saved some money. And eventually, he went back to Booker T. Washington Senior High School, and graduated in 1937 at age 21.

While in high school, O'Berry began dating Veronica Bynoe, who was to become his wife of 67 years. They grew up in the same neighborhood, and Veronica O'Berry, 89, admits to always having had a crush on her future husband, who was a star football player.

"He was just someone I really liked, period," she said with a chuckle. "He was real popular with the girls. I was fortunate."

The two married on April 27, 1941, one day before he was to be deployed in the Army as the United States' entry into World War II approached. He was overseas for the first 4˝ years of their marriage.

O'Berry was the sole survivor of an attack on a ship at Guadalcanal. He clung to the debris before being rescued by fishermen. Back home, his new wife received a letter that read, "We regret to inform you . . ."

The family thought O'Berry was dead until he walked through the front door after his own funeral service.

"Oh my goodness, I couldn't believe it," Veronica O'Berry recalled. "I didn't know what to think. I thought I was seeing things."

A picture of O'Berry in uniform hangs on what his family calls the "wall of fame'' in their Liberty City home. In the old photographs, he is pictured flashing a smile with local community figures.

O'Berry was proud of his smile, Leila O'Berry remembers, and he always wore one, along with his tailored suits.

"He was the best dressed," she said.

After his mother died, O'Berry owned only two shirts and one pair of pants. He would pass a shop every day on his way to work, and see the fancy suits in the window. He made another promise, this one to himself: He would always look sharp.

So O'Berry wore a suit every day, and he would be sure to match his tie and handkerchief. On Easter, he always wore white.

Also hanging on the "wall of fame'' is a picture of O'Berry with the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, which he joined while attending UM.

O'Berry first earned his associate degree from DePaul University in Chicago. After starting his driving school in 1948, O'Berry knew he wanted to continue his eduction, but needed to stay close to home to run his business.

He applied to UM because it was convenient, said Veronica O'Berry. He earned his bachelor's in education in 1962 and became the first black man to graduate from UM.

"You've got to get your education," Leila O'Berry recalls her father always saying. ‘‘He said, ‘If I did it, anyone can do it.' ''

When he was 36, O'Berry became a deacon at Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church, which he attended from the time he moved to South Florida from Iron City, Ga., when he was 5 years old.

"He just loved the service. He loved the people," Leila O'Berry said.

O'Barry's viewing and funeral service will be held in the church he helped establish at 698 NW 47th Ter., Miami. The viewing is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, and the funeral service will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday.

O'Berry is survived by his wife, his daughters Benette O'Berry-Adams and Leila O'Berry, and two granddaughters.

Article by: CHRISTINA VEIGA - Miami Herald