Real estate entrepreneur Maurice Perkins fretted about his fortune, not the acquisition of worldly goods but whether he had shared enough of his assets, family and friends said.
He gave South African children a home in his home while they went to school, an anti-apartheid effort in the 1980s, his family said. He created a boys' mentoring program at his church and later as part of 100 Black Men of Long Island, taking kids to the United Nations and the Gullah Black community in the South, friends said. He taught African Americans that the path to building wealth was the American dream of owning homes, they said.
"He wasn't about giving you money; he was about teaching you how to make money," said daughter Melanie Coleman, of Sugarland, Texas. "Up until the last moment, all he would ever say was 'Did I do a good enough job? Did I help anyone? Will people remember my story?' "
Perkins, a longtime Huntington Station resident, died April 21 in San Antonio, after moving to Texas in 2016. The retired real estate appraiser and developer was 91.
He epitomized the 100 Black Men's slogan: "What they see is what they'll be," those who knew him said. With members of his church, Memorial Presbyterian Church in Roosevelt, he bought and restored abandoned houses in the community, they said. He got friends together to invest in setting up a Queens day care center for children, they said.
Two of his proudest accomplishments highlight the breadth of his legacy -- his partnership with his church to improve a minority community and his success in getting a Black candidate into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, friends said.
He campaigned for the much-needed health center in Roosevelt, enduring more than a decade of broken promises from public officials before getting $3.8 million in HUD grants, opening the center more than 15 years ago, said best friend Reggie Tuggle. He launched community projects with Perkins at Memorial Presbyterian Church in Roosevelt, when Tuggle was the pastor and Perkins an elder.
While many supporters stopped going to meetings on the health center, Perkins did not flag after 11 years. Tuggle recalled: "He would never let you take a defeatist attitude on economic development and working in the community. 'We gotta find a way to make it work.' That was always his response ... He put his legwork where his mouth was."
As a member and president of 100 Black Men of Long Island, Perkins spearheaded a campaign about 15 years ago to identify a Black man for West Point. He succeeded with a young man from Bay Shore.
"He knew the value of the education was not attainable for many young men in our community," said Phil Andrews, cofounder of 100 Black Men of Eastern New York. "He knew the leadership training would prepare them for a quality life even if they didn't stay for a full career."
Born in the Bronx, Perkins didn't want to be "regular" but "extraordinary" to make a difference, Coleman said. His mother, Sadie Brown-Perkins, took him to several of her friends so he could get what amounted to apprenticeships at their businesses, including a print shop, she said. He served in the U.S. Army in Germany, his tenor landing him in the 3rd Armored Division Band and Chorus, she said.
After studying business administration at Queens College, he set up the Maurice N. Perkins Co. in 1962 to offer insurance and real estate services but eventually became an appraiser in demand by churches, banks, government agencies and more.
He faced much discrimination in an industry known for redlining and in a country where laws ended segregation in the 1960s but not in reality, Coleman said. His work for clients in the 1970s led him to states like Alabama, where he was once barred from getting a hotel room that a client booked for him, she said. Not wanting to fight, Perkins looked elsewhere for a room, she said.
It shaped his efforts to help others, Coleman said. "My father faced a lot of discrimination in real estate but he never gave up," she said. "He wanted to pave a path for the family. He never wanted anyone to give up on their dreams just because of racism."
Besides his daughter, he is survived by his wife, Betty Perkins, who ran the company office, and son Lyle, both of San Antonio, and sister Millicent Small of Jacksonville, Florida.
A funeral service was held on May 6 at the Porter Loring Mortuary North funeral home in San Antonio, followed by burial at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.