ALPHA ATHLETES - The Sphinx Magazine

three years prior to the landmark integration of
Little Rock Central High School.
Brother Lieutenant General
Edward Honor, Sr. (USA Ret.)
was a charter member of the Xi Alpha
Lambda Chapter in Prince William County,
Virginia. Brother Honor was born March 17,
1933 in Melville, Louisiana. He entered Omega
Chapter on September 3, 2008. Brother Honor
earned a Bachelor’s degree in Education from
Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
After graduating, he was commissioned as a 2nd
Lieutenant in the Transportation Corps and
entered active duty in 1954. He attended Basic
Courses at the Armor and Transportation Corps
schools. He served two combat tours in Vietnam
and commanded at all levels during his 35-year
career, which culminated with an assignment as
the Director, J-4, the Joint Staff in Washington,
D.C. He retired from the Army in 1989. After
retirement, Lt. General Honor served as President
of the National Defense Transportation
Association for 13 years. He retired from NDTA in
2002. In 2007, he was honored by the U.S.
Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) with
the designation of a special room in his name for
his outstanding efforts in the establishment of the
command. Brother Honor was a founding member
of the ROCKS, Inc., an organization of Army
officers that mentors, guides and provides professional
direction to cadets and officers in the
Army. He was named ROCK of the Year in 1990.
Brother Honor was a life member of Alpha Phi
Alpha Fraternity. He is survived by his wife,
Phyllis, children and grandchildren.
Brother G. Larry James, a two-time medalist
at the 1968 Olympic Games and National
Track & Field Hall of Famer, entered Omega
Chapter on November 6, 2008. It was his 61st
birthday. A double medalist at the 1968 Olympic
Games in Mexico City, Brother James also set
world records and won NCAA titles during his
track career. He won the silver medal in the 400
meters with his time of 43.97 seconds at the
1968 Olympics, bettering the existing world
record but placing him second behind teammate
and fellow Hall of Famer Lee Evans (43.86).
Brother James added a gold medal at the Mexico
City Games by running the third leg on the U.S.
4x400 meter relay team, which set a world
record of 2:56.16 seconds, which lasted until
1992. He set the 400 meter world record of 44.1
seconds in placing second to Evans at the 1968
Olympic Trials at Echo Summit, California, when
Evans’ winning time of 44.0 was disallowed by
the IAAF because he wore illegal brush spike
shoes. Brother James was a double gold medalist
at the 1970 World University Games, winning the
400 meter hurdles and running the anchor leg
on Team USA’s 4x400 meter relay team
(3:03.33). As a collegian at Villanova under Hall
of Fame coach Jumbo Elliott, Brother James won
the NCAA 440 yard title in 1970 and NCAA indoor
crowns at that distance in 1968, 1969 and 1970.
At the 1968 Penn Relays, his anchor leg of 43.9
was the fastest ever run in the history of the relay
carnival and sparked Villanova’s comeback victory
over Rice University. He was inducted into the
National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2003. He
remained active in the Olympic movement, acting
as the men’s head manager for Team USA at the
2003 and 2005 IAAF World Outdoor Track and
Field Championships. Brother James also served
as the chairman of USATF's Budget and Finance
Committee and was Dean of Athletics and
Recreational Programs and Services at the
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.
Brother Julius L. McCoy, a former Harlem
Globetrotter and member of Zeta Theta
Lambda Chapter in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,
entered Omega Chapter on April 4, 2008 at age
76. Brother McCoy led his Farrell, Pennsylvania
high school to its first state basketball championship
in 1952, finishing his three-year varsity
career with a combined record of 80-6—including
a single season high of 726 points. He was an
All-American basketball player at Michigan State
University and held the MSU all-time scoring
record in 1956. Following graduation, he was
drafted by the St. Louis Hawks but was drafted by
the U.S. Army that same year. After his Army discharge
in 1958, he starred in the Eastern League
and the Continental Basketball Association, and
also toured with the Harlem Globetrotters. He
was employed for 33 years by the Pennsylvania
Department of Transportation as the Director of
Equal Opportunity and later the Special Assistant
to the Secretary for Minority Affairs. He is survived
by his wife of 46 years, Betty J. McCoy, who
he met on the YMCA basketball court in
Harrisburg 49 years ago; two children and four
grandchildren.
OMEGA CCHAPTER
Brother Elmer James Moore, a
former U.S. Ambassador and Alpha
Phi Alpha Fraternity’s first International
Chairman, entered Omega Chapter this past fall.
Brother Moore was a former diplomat, having
served as one of the first African American
Ambassadors to Liberia. He served in Liberia for
over ten years and also served in Morocco and
Chad. He was instrumental in helping to establish
the Fraternity Chapter in Liberia and arranging the
Fraternity’s 1976 trip to Liberia. Brother Moore lead
a life of service, having served his country in the U.S.
Army during World War II; and as an economist,
serving more than 30 years with the Department of
Agriculture and the Department of State. Upon his
retirement, he served as an adjunct professor at the
University of Maryland Eastern Shore. He also
served on his church’s Board of Trustees and on
numerous other boards and committees. For nearly
40 years, Brother Moore was a member of Mu
Lambda Chapter in Washington; and was a member
of Eta Epsilon Lambda Chapter while posted in
Monrovia, Liberia with the Department of State. A
life member, he was initiated into Alpha Phi Alpha
through Mu Lambda Chapter in November 1968. In
1977, he was elected Mu Lambda Chapter’s 33rd
president; and he has the distinction of serving for
three consecutive terms—in the years 1977 to
1980. In December 2006, he was honored by Mu
Lambda for his service as past president during the
Chapter’s Black & Gold Scholarship Gala. Brother
Moore and his wife, Aretta, raised three sons and he
had seven grandchildren and four great-grand children.
His grandson, Brian, also is a member of
Alpha Phi Alpha.
B rother Dr. Hugo A. Owens, Sr.,
was a life member of the Fraternity
who was initiated through Beta Gamma
Chapter in 1937. He was a member of Epsilon
Nu Lambda Chapter. He attended the Howard
University Dental School where he received his
Doctor of Dentistry degree. Born Jan. 21, 1916,
Brother Owens entered Omega Chapter on July
29, 2008. He was 92. He graduated from I.C.
Norcom High School in Portsmouth before
enrolling at then Virginia State College where he
majored in biochemistry. He taught in Maryland
and Portsmouth before he was drafted into the
U.S. Army during World War II. He received
specialized training, including dentistry, while
stationed at Fort Eustis. He later opened a prac-
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