BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Her journey through more than a century of American history offers us all perspectives on resilience, family values and witnessing change. Supercentenarian Brunette Washington, passed away at 111 years old on June 10, just days after her birthday.
Nicknamed "Mother Washington" by those outside her immediate family, she passed away peacefully in her sleep. She was laid to rest on Saturday, June 21.
"She's been a good mother to a lot more than just her own children," said Marvis Robinson, Washington's youngest daughter.
Robinson tells me what the family misses most is her mother's deep love for people.
"She loved everyone. She always said treat people the way you want to be treated. That's the way she taught," Robinson said.
Born on June 6, 1914, in the rural town of Forkland, Alabama, Washington's life spanned from World War II through the Civil Rights Movement and the moon landing.
Robinson recalled one of the most humorous stories from her mother's childhood when she had to run an errand to pick up chewing tobacco for her parents.
"On the way back she thought she'd try a bit of it. Well, she put it in her mouth and she took it and she said it knocked her out basically. She said she had to lay out in the field because all of a sudden her head was spinning. She said she never tried it again," Robinson said.
Around age 16, Washington left her rural hometown with her soon-to-be-husband James Washington to escape the pain of the Jim Crow South and to seek better job opportunities in the north. Their journey first took them to Lackawanna before they eventually settled in Buffalo, where they raised four children.
Washington instilled the importance of education in her children because she never finished. That changed once she entered her sixties. Washington demonstrated it is never too late to pursue education when she decided to return to school.
"She said, 'I want to get my GED. I want to get my high school diploma', and she went back to Bennett High School at night and she did get it. And let me tell you something, when she got that diploma, we were all there, we all cried," Robinson said.
Washington never missed her chance to vote at the polls, casting her first vote in 1937. Another highlight of her long life was witnessing the election of the nation's first Black president.
"She said, 'I never thought I would see a Black man become president of this country', she cried. And she voted. Oh yeah, she voted. Made sure she was at the voting polls," Robinson said.
Washington visited the White House in 2015 at the age of 100. Though she never had the chance to meet President Obama in person, he sent her a letter with his regards.
When asked about the secret to her mother's longevity, Robinson said it may have been the fact that Washington never smoked or drank, but certainly not her diet.
"She ate anything she wanted to eat. She ate ice cream cake every day, pork, bacon. Yes ma'am," Robinson said. "Eggs, toast and coffee and lots of coffee."
If Robinson had to guess, her mother's long and fruitful life was the result of simply putting God first.
"First thing she would say to you is to believe in God. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. And the next thing she always said to us was, family stay together," Robinson said.
Last year, the Buffalo Criterion wrote an article after she reached her 110th birthday. Learn more about Brunette Washington's life.
Washington's life story reminds us that behind every elder in our community lies a wealth of experiences that connect us to our shared history and offer wisdom for the future.
