Richard S. McGhee Jr. Obituary, Richard S. McGhee Jr. has passed away

Richard S. McGhee Jr. Obituary, Death – Richard S. McGhee Jr., a lifelong civil rights activist, passed away on July 29, 2023 at the age of 92. He was a resident of Wellesley for a significant portion of his life, and he was a founding co-chair of the “World of Wellesley” event. Richard McGhee was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Willie Joe, a school teacher, and Richard McGhee, Sr., a physician. Shortly after his birth, Richard and his mother moved to the mountain village of LaFolette, Tennessee.

First he attended Fisk University, and later he transferred to Wayne State. During the Korean conflict, Richard did an outstanding job representing the United States Marine Corps as a staff sergeant. Richard called the city of Detroit, Michigan, his home during the better part of the 1950s and 1960s. He was an active participant in the civil rights movement and was responsible for bringing Martin Luther King Jr. to Detroit in 1963.

After that, Richard became an organizer with the group Americans for Democratic Action and moved to Boston. As a champion of racial diversity, equity, and inclusion, Richard worked for and served as a consultant for a large number of state and federal organizations. Some of these organizations include the United States Department of Labor, the United States Department of Defense, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, and the Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

Richard is survived by his wife Charlotte McGhee, his two children Kim McGhee-Walford and Sean McGhee, both of whom reside in Omaha, Nebraska; his stepchildren Netta Davis and Barnett Davis; and his stepgrandchildren. Florence Davis, who was his third stepchild, passed away before him. Richard was a proud grandfather to Erin and Ryan Walford, Rebecca and Sarah O’Brien, Leah and Max Rubin, Asia, Raheem, and Rashad Young, and he was the proudest of all to be a great-grandfather to Omari and Tyson Walford and Dusty Orwall. Erin and Ryan Walford, Rebecca and Sarah O’Brien, Leah and Max Rubin, and Asia, Raheem, and Rashad Young.