The Passing Of A Community Icon - Maurice Mickens

CLEARWATER, FL —On Jan. 8 at St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church in Clearwater’s Greenwood neighborhood, family, friends and neighbors spoke of the imprint 78-year-old Maurice Mickens left on Clearwater and his hometown of New York.

“Maurice was true to himself, his Christian beliefs and all that he stood for," said his wife, Patricia Mickens. "I learned many things from him, but this stands out: ‘You have to be true to what makes you a person.'”

Those who spoke at the service knew Mickens well.

Simone Lopez, Mickens' daughter, delivered a poem in honor of her father and his steadfast support of her.

Rodney Mickens, Mickens' son, said friends from the Bronx reached out to him when they heard of his father’s passing. They reminisced on the many positive things Mickens taught them at the Inter Cultural Workshop, an organization he co-founded and ran from 1969 to 1972.

Besides establishing nonprofits, working with community activists to reopen the Clearwater Martin Luther King Jr. Center and educating at-risk youth, Mickens wrote and produced plays, concerts and banquets.

“It was our mutual love of the arts and aesthetics that brought us together,” said Pat Harney of the Church of Scientology and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Center Coalition. “And it was our shared goal of improving our community that kept us working together.”

Mickens founded the Harlem Nights Benefits Productions, several of which he co-hosted at the Church of Scientology’s Fort Harrison retreat in downtown Clearwater, and was a frequent honored guest of the community events held there.

Born at the tail end of the Harlem Renaissance and living three blocks from Harlem’s Apollo Theater instilled in Mickens the idea that the arts are the lifeblood of any culture, Harney remembered him saying.

Mickens was also a family man with a large tribe spanning the country. Nevertheless, Mickens reached out and adopted more.

“You have no idea what it means to a man who didn’t know his biological father until I was an adult,” said the Rev. Dr. Wendell Miller, referring to Maurice’s claim of Miller as his son.

“When he walked into a room, people got happier. He was a light and salt of the earth,” said the Rev. Dr. Fred Hinson.

“He was my mentor,” said Deacon Joshua Sherman. “He took me to places I never knew existed.”

As the choir closed out the service with the rollicking “Freedom” gospel song, the Rev. Dr. William Sherman, Mickens’ pastor for the past 28 years, remembered a refrain Mickens relayed time and time again, “The spirit is good, so the body has to follow.”

Mickens is survived by his wife, Patricia; his children, Rodney, Simone, Chanel, Michael and Mark; his brother, Raymond Mickens; his daughter-in-law, Janet Mickens; sister-in-law, Mabel Watts; brothers-in-law, Allen Watts Jr., Darryl Watts, Terrence Watts, Joseph Watts and Dwayne Watts; 21 grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, relatives and devoted friends.