I imagine at one time or another we’ve all resurrected our old high school yearbook, reliving the memories recalled by the images and signatures on the aging pages.
This past week, I spent some time at the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul using the center’s extensive Gale Family Library to browse through my parent’s yearbooks from the late 1930’s to 1940.
While leafing through the 1940 Centralian, Minneapolis Central High School’s yearbook, I came across the photo of a young African American woman who was among Central’s 1940 graduating class.
Her name was Arvada Jean Milton. She was a few days shy of her 18th birthday when she graduated in June of 1940.
In the 1940 yearbook, administrators chose to capsulize observations regarding each graduating senior. The statement appeared next to their photo.
Inscribed next to Arvada’s photo appeared these words: “Blessed with common sense and sober reason.”
As I held the corner of the page on which her picture appeared, I paused in a moment of wonderment. What was it about this graduating student that persuaded administrators to attribute such admirable qualities?
After concluding my research for the day, I related to the young gentleman working at the reception desk what I had read regarding Arvada. His response, “Wow! I would love to have that said about me; but who even talks like that today?”
His keen insight was true.
I left wanting to know more about Arvada. Where did a young woman with such high praise end up in the life she would live beyond high school?
The following day, my curiosity spurred my research as I walked from the parking lot into the
Gale Family Library.
I would discover that Arvada arrived in this world four minutes before sunrise on June 25,
1922; the third child born to her parents David and
Lucinda Milton. The family lived one block south of Lake Street.
Arvada married at age twenty-nine on April 13,
1953. She and her husband, Lawrence McCoy, would be blessed with two daughters and a son.
Arvada worked as a clerk and mail handler for the
Minneapolis postal service for 12 years.
When Arvada left this world, October 2, 2005, she was 83 years of age. Her husband of 45 years had preceded her, passing eight years earlier. The couple left behind a legacy of 10 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren.
During the 65 years and three months that followed her graduation from Central High, Arvada’s “common sense and sober reason.” remained her constant companions.
Consider the meaning of those words:
Common Sense – good sense and sound judgment.
Sober – calm, steady, clear-headed.
Reason – understanding, wisdom, discernment.
In her later years, Arvada lovingly became known as “Mother McCoy.”
In 1993, at the age of 71 years, she became one of 25 founders of the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, whose first pastor, the Reverend Albert Gallmon, Jr., arrived three years later in 1996.
Reverend Gallmon continues to serve as the congregation’s pastor and also served as Chaplain for the Minnesota State Senate from 2002-2004. He has been chosen to represent the United States at the upcoming Salzburg Seminar which will focus on “The Rule of Law: Reconciling Religion and Culture in a Constitutional Framework” in Salzburg Austria this summer.
Reverend Gallmon says of Arvada, “She was such a Godly woman, full of wisdom. People always sought her out for her good Godly advice. She possessed a great spirit.”
Among the tributes paid at her passing:
“Mother McCoy will always be an example of a steadfast woman of faith to me.”
“Mother McCoy came into our family’s life as a spiritual mother during a time when our family was much in need of support and inspiration. We will always appreciate the impact she made …”
“She was someone we felt was true to what she believed; very serious about the Bible, earnest in her faith. Normally displaying a very sweet, very mild demeanor, she was passionate about her faith.”
“She demonstrated a set-aside lifestyle. ‘Got to know the Word,’ she would challenge. Very loving, had a wonderful heart.”
Author Eugene Peterson paraphrases King Solomon–who acquired a reputation for sound judgment and great wisdom–in the ninth chapter of the Old Testament book of Proverbs this way, “Skilled living gets its start in the Fear-of-God, insight into life from knowing a Holy God. It’s through me, Lady Wisdom, that your life deepens, and the years of your life ripen. Live wisely and wisdom will permeate your life; mock life and life will mock you.” – Proverbs 9:10.
Likewise, the Apostle James, one of the first disciples to follow Jesus, writes, “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” – James 3:17
I’m certain Mother McCoy’s clear-headed wisdom would advise, “Be careful that nobody spoils your faith through intellectualism or high-sounding nonsense. Such stuff is at best founded on men’s ideas of the nature of the world and disregards Christ!” – Colossians 2:8
I’m glad I fostered my curiosity about a young woman I never had the privilege of meeting … until I came across her photo in a yearbook.
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