Uncrowned Community Builders

Everything that happened to me that was good, God did it!" In the words of this gospel song, she describes her life. If you ask her about her life, she would tell you that it's been good, and it's all because of God. Now a widow at the age of 76, Mrs. Lurie Lene Ford DuBois reminds me a lot of the grandmother in the movie "Soul Food". She is strong, determined, caring, a great cook who feeds everybody, and will take anybody in need, into her house. Mrs. DuBois and her husband, the LATE GREAT, Rev. Glenn Harvey DuBois, have been our family leaders for a long time. When Rev. DuBois died on February 9, 2005, she became the head of the family. She still leads us today. This is just one of the reasons I think she should be an Uncrowned Queen.

Mrs. DuBois was born on November 12, 1930 in a little house in the little town of Hughes, Arkansas. She was the 4th child of her parents' 10 children. When she was a child, she only went to school when no farm work was needed. School was in the Baptist Church. There was only one room and one teacher for all the elementary grades. She was such a good student that she helped the teacher to teach the other kids. There was no high school in the area where Mrs. DuBois lived. She had to go away from home to go to high school. She was the first "Negro" from her area to ever attend High School, but she started something, because after her, others started going.

Mrs. DuBois could always sing. She has sung and directed choirs for as long as I can remember. When she was 7 years old, she sang so good that when she joined the church she started singing with the Adult Choir. She also attended Sunday School, B.T.U., Mission meetings, choir rehearsals, prayer meetings, revivals and anything else held at the church. She still does all this and much more today! She has been a member of the Jordan Grove Baptist Church since it started in 1955. Her husband was the Pastor for 40 years. She did a lot of work at this church, such as: directing choirs, teaching classes, leading prayer services, sponsoring programs for fund raising, supervising the young people's department, serving as secretary and treasurer for different groups and working as the Pastor's personal secretary. Mrs. DuBois also works with our local church association, the Great Lakes Baptist Association., and with our State and National Conventions. With our local Association, she has been the Coordinator and director of the Choir's Department, the corresponding secretary for the Women's Auxiliary, the chairperson of the Radio & Press Committee and of the "Hat Extravaganza" program.

Mrs. DuBois cares about the community, and about education as well as home and foreign missions. Her ministry begins in her home and spreads abroad. She has taken many people into her home and nurtured them, fed them, taught them and been a counselor to them. She is a true Christian mother.

For about 50 years, Mrs. DuBois led the singers with the "Upper Room Prayer Band" when they visited nursing homes and centers each year on New Year's Day. They would walk all around the building singing songs, and praying for people who lived in these places. This included the Erie County Home and Infirmary, the Grace Manor Nursing Home and the 1490 Senior Citizens building. Mrs. DuBois is still helping people today. She helps to sponsor The Lurie DuBois Post War Orphanage for Abandoned Children International Ministry Inc., in Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa. This facility was named after her hi 1996. She, some of her family and friends, and her church family send quarterly provisions of rice and money to support the people there. She and her supporters are the main source of food and money for the children who live hi this facility.

For her tireless work, Mrs. DuBois has received many awards and certificates. ,She received Certificates of Appreciation from many groups, including The Evangelistic Temple Church for providing encouragement to Women; The Christian Women's Council Award; The Stellar Award from Kathy Bowman Ministries for Lifetime Achievement in Ministry; The Virtuous Woman Award, from the Children's Ministry Department of her home church; The No Cross, No Crown Award for Service, from the Great Lakes Baptist Association; An Appreciation Award from a sister church hi Omaha, Nebraska, etc.

There are many reasons why I feel Mrs. DuBois should be an uncrowned queen. With the help of God, she went from being a plantation sharecropper to the "First Lady" of a Church. If she knew that I was writing this paper about her, my Grandmother, Mrs. Lurie Lene Ford DuBois would use the phrase that she says so often in church: "Bless your sweet heart"!!

2nd Place, Grades 10-12
Curtis N. Gardner, Jr.
Grade 10, McKinley High School