Memphis area suffers tremendous loss with death of Vivian Berryhill
Greater Memphis lost a tremendous public servant March 8 when Vivian N. Berryhill ended a seven-year battle with cancer. She was 63. “Tremendous” is not hyperbole. She utilized her over-the-top personality, including a special fashion flair, and her vocal talent and music composing skills to enhance her advocacy for a host of social and health awareness causes.
Her work took her around the world, where she met presidents and a host of other dignitaries in a quest to improve the human condition.
Mrs. Berryhill was a 2007 Jefferson Public Service Award winner and received the prestigious Presidential Service Award in 2006.
In 2012 the Olive Branch resident was among 11 volunteers from across DeSoto County who received national recognition: the 2012 President’s Volunteer Service Awards.
In May 2007, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis read her outstanding service into the Congressional Record, calling her “a goodwill ambassador across the world conducting global outreach on HIV/AIDS. In addition to her passionate charitable work, Mrs. Berryhill is an acclaimed songwriter…”
I probably could come close to filling a column of newsprint with a list of all the boards and nonprofits she served on or worked with.
But that would only present a onedimensional view of this minister’s wife, who came south from Kalamazoo, Michigan, to get an education and pursue her passion for music.
“We had a conversation about why she ended up in Memphis and the South,” said longtime friend Deanie Parker, who probably is best known for her longtime affiliation with Stax Records.
“She wanted to be as close to Memphis (and Stax) as possible to pursue her vocal and songwriting talents. But, by the time to she got here, Stax had closed,” Parker said.
She used her voice and music composition talent to enhance her advocacy.
Parker said she first met Mrs. Berryhill years ago when both served on a committee, whose members were tasked with determining what to do about Mud Island.
“She had a bigger-than-life personality, and her style of dress reflected that personality,” Parker said.
I asked Parker want drove Mrs. Berryhill’s volunteerism? “She had diverse interests — from addressing the social needs of people, to their health needs, to politics ... She had an insatiable passion for life,” Parker said.
She and her husband, the Rev. Chester Berryhill, were married for 33 years. I first met Chester in the early 1970s when he was assistant director of the old Memphis Community Relations Commission, which was created by the City Council to deal with racerelation issues in the aftermath of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
He said he and Mrs. Berryhill first met in 1972, but did not start dating until 1982 at the suggestion of a “friend in the Christian community.” He said both were divorced at the time. She had a young daughter and they later had a daughter together.
Chester, the former pastor of New Philadelphia Baptist Church, said his wife’s personality and willingness to get involved made her a special minister’s wife.
He said she battled cervical cancer for seven years, going into remission for a year after three years of treatment.
She was working in the fur department of Macy’s in Oak Court Mall and during that year, Chester said, she had the highest sales totals at the time and since.
The way she accomplished that milestone reflects how she was so effective in bringing attention to her causes.
“She knew how to reach out to people and the community,” he said.
Mrs. Berryhill was a staunch supporter of efforts to reduce preventable diseases that disproportionately affect American-Americans, such as HIV/AIDS, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, while promoting eating a healthy diet.
She was founder and head of the 2,800-member National Coalition of Pastors’ Spouses, which helped her spread her advocacy across the nation.
In 2003 Mrs. Berryhill joined a distinguished group of U.S. delegates on an HIV/AIDS fact-finding tour to five countries in sub-Saharan Africa. She also represented the United States as a delegate at the 57th International World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland in May 2004 and toured faith-based locales in Peru, Bolivia and Chile in June 2004, which allowed expansion of the network of pastors’ wives and the touting of her organization’s innovative approach to HIV/ AIDS education and prevention to indigenous clergy spouses in the region.
As I said earlier, I could go on and on about Mrs. Berryhill’s accomplishments and awards.
She was a remarkable woman, whose zest for life and desire to make the world a better place, despite her battle with cancer, deserves recognition.
Last week, her husband, a Vietnam combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient, told me, “This is the roughest time I’ve had ever since Vietnam.”
The people whose lives Mrs. Berryhill touched and made better are feeling his pain.
Jerome Wright is editorial page editor for The Commercial Appeal. Contact him at jerome.wright@commercialappeal.com.