Widow of civil rights pioneer remembered for her own work for justice

Published: 2006-01-31

ATLANTA (CNS) -- Coretta Scott King, who died Jan. 30 at age 78, will be remembered for her fidelity to civil rights and nonviolent justice that had been sought by her husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. She died during the night at a holistic health center in Baja California, Mexico. Funeral arrangements were not yet announced. "The entire nation stands in awe of the wondrous legacy of this great woman of faith," said Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta in a Jan. 31 statement. "We in the Archdiocese of Atlanta are especially grieved at her death. "She was a noble resident of our city and a proud bearer of the heritage of freedom and justice that her husband epitomized and that she fulfilled with incredible determination. Dr. King could not have found a worthier spouse and colleague in the struggle for social change and civil rights," Archbishop Gregory added. Father John Adamski, the pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Atlanta's first African-American parish which is located adjacent to the King Center in Atlanta, called King's death "the closing of a chapter."

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