Losing a longtime childhood friend leaves a big hole in your heart | Opinion

Some people go about their life doing good without any fanfare. My friend Agnes Ophelia Rolle Morton was that kind of person.

I met Agnes when we were both 12 and were junior high students at Booker T. Washington Junior/Senior High School in Overtown. That was in the fall of 1950. I was a new seventh-grader, and she was a big-time eighth-grader.

We became friends when I got the nerve to join the school’s choir. It was to be a friendship that would last a lifetime – through separations and marriages and children – no matter what, there was always a space in my heart for Agnes, and I believe she had a special space in her heart for me.

Agnes died on Oct. 2., leaving that space in my heart void, and void for many who loved her. She was 90 years old.

Born in Overtown on Feb. 4, 1938, to Jerod H. and Bessie Green Rolle, Agnes was one of 12 siblings. All but one preceded her in death.

To know Agnes was to love her. I know people say that all the time when somebody dies. But it is true about Agnes.

I can’t remember ever hearing Agnes say anything bad about someone, even when we were in our “mean teens” stage. Before she said anything bad about someone, she would change the subject. And she always reached out with a branch of friendship to the underdog, the one who was being bullied. It was a subtle gesture, meant to be just between the one who was hurt and Agnes.

Not only could Agnes sing, but she was smart, too. She was educated in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, attending Dunbar Elementary and later graduating in 1955 from Booker T. Washington.

Some of my favorite memories of Agnes are of the two of us singing in the school choir. Agnes had the most beautiful alto voice. Although I was a natural soprano, when I joined the choir, our choir director, the late Leila Williams, put me in the alto section because the choir was short on altos.

I remember another singer, Irene Robinson, and I used to race to get to sit next to Agnes, who always knew all the parts of any song.

Agnes came from a family of smarties. One brother, the late Dr. Albert E. Rolle, was a noted neurosurgeon. Another sister, Geraldine Rolle (who taught me all the moves to become a majorette in high school) became a pharmacist and Agnes was a registered nurse.

When their parents died, it was their aunt, Ruth Scott Mackey, who encouraged the Rolle siblings and kept them focused, Agnes once told me. “She made extra money playing for church choirs just to help us.”

Agnes would go on to receive her bachelor of science in nursing from Florida A&M University. While there, she became a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. When she graduated, Agnes enlisted in the U. S. Army Nurse Corps, where she served six years as a certified registered nurse anesthetist, and where she achieved the rank of captain.

While serving in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, Agnes met the love of her life, Charles Merritt Morton. They were married in 1964 and were blessed with one son, Charles Kwanza Morton. Her husband preceded her in death.

When she was honorably discharged, Agnes and her husband settled in San Francisco, where she later received a master’s in public health from the University of California in San Francisco at Berkeley, and became a dedicated member of the Ingleside Presbyterian Church in San Francisco.

Agnes’ tiny stature belied her big heart. “She had a servant’s heart,” said her son Charles Kwanza. “She dedicated her life to health equity, the elimination of health disparities and better access to quality health care for underserved communities.”

Because of her dedication to the nursing profession, at her 1998 retirement celebration, Agnes was given the title of “Queen Erelu” (an African word for community healer). It was a name that was well-earned. A

Retirement didn’t stop Agnes. After she retired, she served eight years as a lecturer in Black Studies at San Francisco State University, and three years as a health consultant for the San Francisco Department of Human Services. There, she worked with foster parents for children exposed to HIV and substance abuse.

She was an original member of the Bay Area Black Nurses Association (BNA) and also served as a board member.

After a few years living in San Francisco after her retirement, Agnes felt it was time to come home to Miami, where all her old friends welcomed her back in 2005. She immediately got involved, working with the BTW Alumni Association and joining the Miami chapter of the Black Nurses Association, becoming the chapter’s first lifetime member. She also joined the Episcopal Church of The Incarnation, participating in the caring hearts health and wellness ministry.

Agnes was a passionate historian, who took great pride in preserving her family’s rich history. She received many awards in her lifetime, including being inducted into FAMU’S School of Nursing “Gallery of Distinction.” She received proclamations from the late U. S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, former U. S. Sen. Barbara Boxer and current Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. And she earned an honorary doctorate in ministry from Trinity Theological Seminary of South Florida.

In 2021, the Vietnam Veterans of America presented Agnes with an award for her dedication, devotion and honorable military service. Alvin W. Roberts presented the award to Agnes on Veterans Day at the Historic Lyric Theater in Overtown.

“Presenting that award to Agnes was one of the pleasures of my life,” Roberts said. “She was like a big sister to me. I was so proud of her.”

So were a lot of others in Miami; Aug 6, 2022, was proclaimed as “Agnes Rolle Morton Day.”

In addition to her son Charles Kwanza, she is survived by her sister Leona Rolle. Services were held.