Tyrone Winfrey, education advocate for Detroit students, dies at 63 – Detroit News
Detroit — Tyrone Winfrey Sr., executive director of community affairs for Detroit public schools and a tireless advocate for opening avenues for youth to expand their education, died Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, at age 63.
He’d been battling prostate cancer for more than five years, his family said. He died at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
Mr. Winfrey, the husband of Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey, was a former president of the Detroit school board and was known as an advocate for academic achievement for students in the Detroit Public Schools Community District and in Metro Detroit, said Bishop Charles Ellis III, Winfrey’s pastor, who leads Greater Grace Temple on Detroit’s west side.
Mr. Winfrey was a man of strong spiritual convictions that matched his zeal for furthering students’ education, said Ellis, who had known him for roughly 35 years. He said Mr. Winfrey, who was a deacon at the church, were responsible for bringing an annual college fair to the ministry, where thousands of prospective students were offered scholarships to attend academic institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
“Deacon Tyrone Winfrey leaves the legacy of if you absolutely want to do better and be better educationally, there are all kinds opportunities out here, and he was one to make them available to the young people of metropolitan Detroit,” Ellis told The Detroit News.
Born in Detroit on June 6, 1959, he graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1977. Mr. Winfrey went on to attend the University of Wyoming and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1982. After returning to Detroit, he attended Wayne State University and graduated with a Master of Arts degree in counselor education in 1992.
He married his wife, Janice, in 1987.
“Detroit has lost a great public servant in the passing of Tyrone Winfrey Sr. My condolences go out to his wife Janice and their children,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said. “Tyrone was a tireless advocate for the educating of Detroit’s children. Many attribute their success at the University of Michigan to Tyrone and his strong passion for equal access to higher education.”
Mr. Winfrey began serving Detroit’s youths in 1985, when he worked with the Comprehensive Youth Training and Community Involvement Program, a subsidiary of the New Detroit Inc., a nonprofit group working to achieve racial understanding and racial equity in Metro Detroit.
He later worked with Michigan State University’s Office of Admissions & Scholarships and Wayne County Extension as an outreach admissions coordinator, and youth agent in the Office of Admissions and Scholarships and the Extension 4-H program from 1990-97, according to his LinkedIn page.
“Tyrone was the kind of man who loved hard, but supported people with compassion and kindness,” said John Ambrose, executive director of admissions at Michigan State University.
While he and Mr. Winfrey did not work at MSU simultaneously, Ambrose said they initially met around 2003 during the Urban Counselor Workshop, sponsored by the Michigan Association for College Admissions Counselors. Ambrose said he and Mr. Winfrey would go on to work with one another, supporting students across the state, especially in Detroit.
“I led the move to start Detroit Decision Day, a large onsite admissions event for DPSCD, and Tyrone was there to support it,” Ambrose said. “No matter what we were doing, he was always there — from Greater Grace’s college fair to Metro Detroit Youth Day to Midnight Golf Program, Tyrone was always working to see the students of Detroit experience college and we celebrated them together.”
He also served as associate director for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions in the Detroit admissions office for the University of Michigan from 1998-2011. Additionally, he served as director of community and parent engagement with the Education Achievement Authority of Michigan.
Wayne County Sheriff Raphael Washington, who has known Mr. Winfrey for 35 years, said he attributes his youngest son’s success in higher education to the efforts of Mr. Winfrey. He said his son, Justin, and Tyrone Jr. were roommates at the University of Michigan.
“It wasn’t just my son; Tyrone did that for hundreds of kids,” Washington said. “To do what Tyrone did for our young people required patience, perseverance and a spirit of wanting to see children succeed. That’s huge because everybody can’t do it, but he did it.”
Vickie Thomas, former WWJ-AM (950) AM reporter and current director of communications for the city of Detroit, said Mr. Winfrey cared deeply about students. He organized a back-to-school event that provided school supplies and free haircuts for youths during his time with the EAA.
“My heart is heavy. Tyrone was such a great guy, dedicated to his family and all the children of Detroit and beyond,” Thomas said. “He was always respectful and so positive; he was a bright light.”
Former state representative and current Detroit school board member Sherry Gay-Dagnogo said Mr. Winfrey was committed to changing the economic trajectory of Detroit children through equal access to higher education.
“He took life by the horns, with laser-like focus on a fight for access to higher education, and he gave himself totally to our schools, to our children and to the community in fighting for the best opportunities for children to be successful in education,” Gay-Dagnogo said. “Our prayers are with Clerk Winfrey and her children in dealing with this fight, but they can all stand proud in knowing that Tyrone fought and served until the absolute end.”
In addition to his wife, survivors include children Lauren Murphy, Chad and Tyrone Jr.
“He will be greatly missed, but his legacy will live on in the lives of those he helped to build a brighter future,” Duggan said.
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