Silent Strength

It was his silent strength that set Birdex Copeland apart from others. Copeland was buried Friday June 5, 2020 in Grambling Memorial Garden following a graveside service. A public viewing was held at King's Funeral Home prior to the graveside service. Copeland 76, died Tuesday June 2, 2020, following a brief illness. He was a soft-spoken man, and always did things in a peaceful manner. Copeland retired from Grambling State where he served as a professor, head of the Department of Sociology and dean of the School of Social Work. Upon retirement, he was named Dean Emeritus of the School of Social Work. He had a powerful message yet delivered it in a mild manner. His silent strength went beyond the campus and was also felt in the Grambling community, in North Louisiana, in the Mississippi Delta, nationally and internationally. Copeland served as the chairman of the Grambling Legends Taxing District that was instrumental in building the Legends Square shopping center in Grambling. He also was a member of the Grambling Economic Development Corporation that worked to bring economic development to the city. He loved his community, family and friends. He will be missed, but never forgotten." Everybody knew Copeland as a university professor, board member of the credit union, a deacon in the church and a community leader. Copeland's business knowledge and his understanding of how the financial establishment works was admired. He always stepped up when leadership was needed, and even when 'workship' was needed. There were so many ways he volunteered and was involved in his community. Copeland was always at every event with his wife in the community and at the university. He was a man you believed. He said what he was going to do and did it. He was not a father who sent his family to church, he was a father that took his family to church. Copeland worked hard to provide financial empowerment and independence for black families. If you had a vision that was bigger than the reality that anyone had experienced, you had to have a leader with enough trust and creativity and vision to keep up. He was the one. Copeland was a bold thinker who was ahead of his time. Copeland was proud to represent the credit union movement for over 40 years. He was inducted into the African American Credit Union Hall of Fame in 2016. Providing financial services to the "underserved" was Copeland's passion. Copeland was born in Holly, Louisiana in 1943 to Birdex Sr. and Viola Wilson Copeland. One of seven siblings, he grew up in Mansfield LA, where he attended the local schools. He married Bertia (Bert) Fuller Copeland. She passed in 2006. He was a deacon at Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Grambling LA, where he served as church treasurer and youth Sunday school teacher for many years. Copeland held a bachelor's degree in sociology from Grambling State, a Master of Social Work from Atlanta University and a doctorate from Kansas State University. He married Lolita Collins in 2008. He was a lifetime member of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. He was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife and siblings Willie Copeland and Curtis Copeland. He is survived by his wife Lolita Collins Copeland; children Brian Mandel Copeland and Beryl (Leonardo) Copeland Washington; granddaughters Virginia Allison Copeland and Lea Bryanna Copeland; siblings Charles (Wanda) Copeland, Bettye Copeland, Mary Ellen Copeland and Gloria (Donald) Copeland Jones; sister-in-law Theodora (Willie) Copeland and many nieces, nephews and cousins. Reginald Owens is an adjunct professor and Wanda L. Peters is an assistant professor/ publication director of The Gramblinite in the Department of Mass Communication at GSU.

Photo Birdex Copeland