Garth Reeves called a ‘freedom fighter of all African American people’ at Miami funeral

In person, Garth C. Reeves Sr., the publisher emeritus of The Miami Times, would often preface his conversations with the words, “Let me tell you a little story.”

At his three-hour funeral service Friday morning at the Historic Saint Agnes Episcopal Church in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood, hundreds of friends, community leaders, colleagues and elected officials gathered to tell heartfelt stories little and big about the longtime leader in Miami’s black community.

About 500 people, including Larry Robinson, president of Reeves’ alma mater, Florida A&M University, filed by his open casket near the entrance. They came to share remembrances and to honor a civic icon who stood tall as a voice for the aspirations of African Americans in Miami for nearly a century.

Reeves was 100 when he died on Nov. 25.

Standing near Reeves for one last time, his cousin Gayle Sweeting said something that was reflected in the broad mix of people at his final services: “He was adored by everyone in the community. They loved him. A legacy and an era is gone.”

A father figure

Miami Commissioner Keon Hardemon spoke of Reeves’ influence on him.

Born in Miami, Hardemon grew up in the James E. Scott Public Housing Development in Liberty City.

“I’m the only Negro sitting on Miami’s City Commission and I say it like that because you have to understand that Garth Reeves reminded me that you should always know who you are,” Hardemon said during the service.

“I grew up in a home with no father,” he continued. Hardemon said that as a little boy he had no male role model to look toward — until he met Garth Reeves Sr.

Reeves, Hardemon said, gave him and other “nappy-haired kids” in the community, “the opportunity to look up to him and say, ‘There goes a man.’

Four eulogists for Reeves

Eduardo Padrón, who stepped down earlier this year as president of Miami Dade College, where Reeves was a chairman of the governing board, praised the late newspaperman for his compassion, his dignity and grace, and his commanding presence. He thanked Reeves for serving as his mentor in a relationship that dated back to the mid-1960s.

“He believed only the educated are free,” Padrón said, and Reeves helped ensure that Miami Dade College would serve all communities. A building on the north campus is named for Reeves.

“He commanded respect wherever he went, and when he talked, people listened,” Padrón said. “As tough as he needed to be, he always had compassion.”

T. Willard Fair, president and chief executive officer of the Urban League of Greater Miami, called Reeves an “unforgettable force” and said “the most important thing I learned from him was the courage to stay committed.”

Benjamin Chavis, president and chief executive officer of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, also eulogized Reeves’ strength, “a freedom fighter of all African-American people,” Chavis said.

He then asked all the publishers who came to the service to stand. They came from Texas. From St. Louis and Fort Lauderdale. From New York to Chicago.

“There are 225 African-American newspapers published today and that’s because of his leadership,” Chavis said.

And David Lawrence Jr., chair of The Children’s Movement of Florida and former publisher of the Miami Herald, began his eulogy by recounting the many historical events that had happened in 1919, the year of Reeves’ birth:

The death of President Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th U.S. president. Prohibition was ratified. The signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which formally ended World War I. Baseball player Babe Ruth was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees for a then-record sum of $125,000. And the lynching of 76 black people.

“It’s not for me to tell you about Garth Reeves Sr.,” Lawrence said, as he mentioned each of Reeves’ accomplishments.

Lawrence told of how Reeves helped make the beaches and golf courses in Miami-Dade open to all. How he used The Miami Times to make for a better Florida. He spoke of Reeves’ impeccable sense of dress, and how he was not intimidated by anyone — black or white.

“He never looked for publicity. He was looking for results,” Lawrence said.

Reeves’ Miami story

Reeves was an indefatigable icon who started on his leadership path quite young.

Reeves, born in Nassau, was 4 months old when he moved to Miami’s Overtown and Liberty City neighborhoods with his family. He held every position at the paper his father, Henry E.S. Reeves, a master printer from the Bahamas, had founded in Miami on Sept. 1, 1923.

Reeves started his career when he was still in high school at Miami’s Booker T. Washington, and he continued working to his retirement in 1994. After stepping down, he continued as an activist, board member of various institutions, businessman and mentor.

Reeves’ energy in running the landmark black-owned paper would impact the lives of countless families in South Florida. He’d found his life’s calling — to serve as a voice for the black community.

He passed that legacy on to his kin.

Reeves kept The Miami Times in the family as it evolved into its current digital edition. He died two months after his daughter, Rachel, passed. His late son Garth Jr. also held power at the paper but died of colon cancer at age 30 in 1982. Reeves’ grandson, Garth Basil, Rachel’s son, now runs The Miami Times.