Christine King Farris Obituary News: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Last Surviving Sibling Passes Away at Age 95
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s sole surviving sibling, Christine King Farris, passed away.
The Rev. Bernice King, her niece, announced that her “beloved aunt” had passed away on Thursday. 95 years old.
Farris collaborated with Coretta Scott King, her brother’s widow, for many years following his 1968 murder in order to protect and advance his legacy. However, unlike her well-known sister-in-law, Farris’ advocacy — and pain — frequently took place in the background.
“She may not have always been on the line of the march, but that was true with a lot of the heroes of the Civil Rights Movement,” Marcellus Barksdale, a history professor at Morehouse College, said of Farris in an interview with The Associated Press in 2009. Christine “kind of got dimmed by that because of the luminescence of Dr. King and Coretta Scott King, but she was no less important.”
On September 11, 1927, in Atlanta, Willie Christine King became the first Farris. She was the first child born to Alberta Christine Williams King and the Rev. Martin Luther King Sr.
Farris contributed to the construction of The King Center and the dissemination of Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent resistance theory. She continued to be a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where her grandfather and father had spoke, and she was a stalwart of the ecumenical service commemorating her brother’s birthday there for many years.
The King Center tweeted a tribute to Farris on Thursday along with a picture of the founding board member, former vice-chair, and treasurer.
Tweeting a picture of herself and Farris, Bernice King wrote, “I love you and will miss you, Aunt Christine.”
In a tweet, Martin Luther King III noted that he, his wife, and their kid had visited his aunt in her final days.
“Aunt Christine was a living example of what it meant to serve the community. She dedicated her life to fighting for equality and against racism in America, much like my father did, he tweeted. She overcame the obstacles that prevented too many underprivileged populations from progressing and went on to become a respected novelist and civil rights activist. Aunt Christine, who is no stranger to hardship, exploited the tragedy of her mother’s and brother’s murders to campaign for change in America.
Many of the people she cherished, such as her parents, her two brothers, her sister-in-law, and her niece Yolanda, outlived Farris. She received her economics degree from Spelman College in 1948, the same year Martin Luther King Jr. received his sociology degree from Morehouse College.
Farris returned to Spelman ten years later after spending more than fifty years there. She wed Isaac Newton Farris in 1960. Angela Christine Farris Watkins and Isaac Newton Farris Jr. were the couple’s two children.
In a statement, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said, “Our hearts are heavy in Atlanta today with the news that Christine King Farris has passed away.”
Dickens remarked that Mrs. Farris “was a force in her own right.” “A promoter of literacy and education, she spent over 50 years as a professor at Spelman College. She spent a significant portion of her life fighting for equality as the final King sibling. She once remarked that her brother Martin “just gave us the blueprint, but it was our responsibility ‘to carry it out.'”
In “My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up With the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” and “March On!,” Farris authored two children’s books on her life. The World Changed on the Day My Brother Martin Did.” She published a memoir in 2009 titled “Through It All: Reflections on My Life, My Family, and My Faith.”
Farris frequently told tales about her brother as a typical child and young adult in an effort to humanize him and his accomplishments.
They believe that Jesus just emerged out of nowhere, fully developed and prepared to alter the course of history, she remarked.