ALPHA ATHLETES - The Sphinx Magazine

OMEGA CHAPTER
tice in Portsmouth in 1947 and became involved
in the evolving civil rights movement. He filed
his first lawsuit in 1950 to integrate the city
parks after he had taken his daughter to see the
ducks and he and his daughter were run off by
a groundskeeper. He and three others sued to
gain access to city golf courses, and won. In
1960, Brother Owens helped win a lawsuit to
desegregate the city’s libraries. Around 1964, he
joined a group of doctors and dentists to desegregate
Portsmouth General Hospital. Brother
Owens returned to Norfolk County in 1962, the
year before the area merged with South Norfolk
and formed Chesapeake. In 1970, he became
one of the first two African Americans elected to
the Chesapeake City Council. During his 10
years on the Council, he served eight as Vice
Mayor. Brother Owens retired around 1990 and
continued his civic work. In 1996, ODU named
its African American Cultural Center in his
honor. In 1997, the Hugo A. Owens Middle
School opened in Chesapeake. His wife of 66
years, Helen, passed away in April 2008.
Brother Robert Fabian Short, the
oldest registered Brother to attend
the 2006 and 2008 General Conventions,
entered Omega Chapter on September 9, 2008.
He was 96. Brother Short was initiated into the
Fraternity on May 1, 1929 through Beta Alpha
Chapter at then Morgan State College in
Baltimore. He was last a member of Beta
Lambda Chapter in Kansas City, Missouri. He
received his Bachelor’s degree in Education
from then Hampton Institute and received his
M.S. degree in Guidance and Counseling from
Central Missouri State University. Brother Short
was born October 19, 1911 in Charles County,
Maryland. He departed this life just months after
attending the Fraternity’s 102nd Anniversary
Convention in Kansas City, Missouri where he
was the oldest registered Brother. Brother Short
attended the Baltimore City Public Schools and
after college, he pursued a teaching career in
the Trades and Industries Department at
Langston University, which was interrupted by
World War II when he accepted civil service
employment at the U.S. Naval Air Force Technical
Training School in Chicago. Following service in
the U.S. Naval Reserves as a Chief Petty Officer,
Brother Short returned to Langston University
until he moved to Kansas City in 1947 and began
teaching in the Kansas City School District. He
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worked there for 30 years, teaching at R.T. Coles
Veteran Training School, Lincoln Senior High
School, Lincoln Junior High School, Central
Junior High School (as a Guidance Counselor)
and Westport Senior High School. He retired in
1977. Brother Short served the Fraternity in
numerous capacities during his long membership.
He was instrumental in Fraternity affairs
and active on several committees. Brother Short
was preceded into the next life by his wife of 53
years, Floretta H. Short. He is survived by his
son, Brother Dr. Kenneth L. Short.
Brother Charles Errington Simmons, Jr.
was born March 17, 1918 in Jacksonville,
Florida. He graduated salutatorian of the class of
1935 at Old Stanton High School and was an
Eagle Scout, Troop No. 147 at Mt. Zion A.M.E.
Church in Jacksonville. He later served as Scout
Master of the troop. In 1939, he received a B.A.
degree from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in
mathematics and chemistry. In 1941, he earned
his Master’s degree in Business Administration in
Actuarial Science from the University of Michigan
in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was employed as the
first actuary-Vice President at the Home Office of
the Afro-American Life Insurance Company in
Jacksonville; he also served as treasurer and secretary
of the company. In addition, Brother
Simmons was the first insurance specialist for
Duval County Public Schools. He served for 12
years as the Duval County School Board insurance
specialist. He was active in the Jacksonville community
and was the first African American to serve
on the Jacksonville Civil Service Board where he
was appointed by Mayor Louis Ritter in 1966—
becoming the first African American city official in
Jacksonville since Reconstruction. One month
after his appointment ended in May 1967, he ran
for office in the Core City; and then in the
Consolidated City in December of 1967 and was
elected each time to the Civil Service Board.
During the Consolidated Government, Brother
Simmons served as Chairman of the Civil Service
Board. As Actuary and Vice President of the Afro-
American Life Insurance Company, he represented
business on the Civil Service Board. He was a
member of the Fraternity’s Upsilon Lambda
Chapter. On December 2, 2006, the Chapter presented
Brother Simmons with the Lifetime Service
Award in recognition of 70 years of membership
in the Fraternity. He is survived by his wife, Jolita
Watson Simmons.
Fall • Winter 2008 The Sphinx: www.APA1906.net
Brother Eugene “Gene” T. Upshaw, Jr., Hall
of Fame National Football League guard and
head of the NFL Players Union for a quarter century,
entered Omega Chapter on August 20, 2008. He
was 63. Brother Upshaw was initiated into the
Fraternity through Gamma Xi Lambda Chapter in
1981. He received his B.S. degree from Texas A&M
Kingsville in 1968. Brother Upshaw’s outstanding
15-season playing career was entirely with the
Oakland Raiders and included two Super Bowl
wins, seven Pro Bowl appearances and selection as
an 11-time All-Pro offensive lineman. He was elected
to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987 in his
first year of eligibility. He was the only player in NFL
history to play in three Super Bowls in three different
decades—in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He
was the longest-tenured labor leader in sports. In
1983, he became Executive Director of the players’
association and guided the union through the 1987
strike that led to replacement football. By 1989, the
players had a limited form of freedom, called Plan
B; and in 1993, free agency and a salary cap were
instituted. Since then, the players have prospered
so much that NFL owners recently opted out of the
latest labor contract, which was negotiated two
years ago by Upshaw and then-commissioner Paul
Tagliabue. Brother Upshaw is survived by his wife,
Terri; and three sons.
B rother Nick Levoter Weatherspoon, a former
National Basketball Association player
and the 10th-leading scorer in University of Illinois
basketball history, entered Omega Chapter on
October 17, 2008. He was 58. Born July 20, 1950
in Greenwood, Mississippi, he attended McKinley
high school before enrolling at the University of
Illinois in Champaign-Urbana where he was initiated
into the Fraternity through Tau Chapter in 1971.
Brother Weatherspoon, a 6-foot-7-inch, 195 pound
forward, was one of the first 30 former University
of Illinois players to have their jerseys hung from
the rafters of the school’s Assembly Hall. In three
seasons, he scored 1,481 points and left Illinois as
the school’s all-time leading scorer, which has
since been surpassed. His career average of 20.9
points per game remains an Illinois record, and he
contributed 11.4 rebounds per game. In 1973, his
senior year, he averaged 25.0 points per game,
third highest in Illinois history. A two-time Illinois
MVP, Brother Weatherspoon was a first-team All-
American by the Helms Foundation and first-team
All-Big Ten selection as a senior in 1973. He was
named to the 20-player Illinois Basketball All-