Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 5-3-2019

Feature
Popular Tampa Icon Passes Following Illness
MR. JAMES HAMMOND 11/11/1929 --- 5/1/2019
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
A popular icon who served as a pioneer entre- preneur has passed. Mr. James Hammond passed on Wednesday, May 1st, at the age of 89.
Funeral services for Mr. Hammond will take place on Saturday, May 11th, at 11 a.m., at Beulah Institutional
Baptist Church, 1006 W. Cypress Street.
A Tampa native, Mr. Hammond graduated from Middleton High School in 1946. He contin- ued his education at Hamp- ton University, where he earned a degree in Electri- cal Engineering in 1951.
While at Hampton, Mr. Hammond joined the ROTC and obtained the rank of Cadet Colonel. He later entered the U. S. Army and rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel after graduating from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, in Kansas.
After his service to the military, Mr. Hammond returned to Tampa and served in several capacities as a trailblazer and entre-
preneur. He served as African American Director of the Community Rela- tions Office for the City of Tampa; and obtained fed- eral funding for the first Pre-School Program in Hillsborough County.
Mr. Hammond also created other businesses and organizations. He founded Impact Communi- cations and served as its COO. The company became the largest Black-owned tel- evision cable construction firms in the State of Florida.
During the 1960s, Mr. Hammond was among a group of men known as the “White Hats,” who helped quell racial unrest in the City of Tampa.
In 1986, Mr. Ham- mond founded The Tampa-Hillsborough Ac-
tion Plan as part of his goal to improve the lives of those living in Tampa through employment, and social services programs.
His family said he re- tired several times, yet he never retired, always going from one mission to an- other to improve the quality of life in his community.
Mr. Hammond’s pio- neering spirit led him to serve as the first or among the first African Americans to reach milestones in the City of Tampa that included his being one of the first African American licensed Electrical Contractors in Hillsborough County. He was the founder of Ham- mond Electric Company.
A lifetime member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Mr. Hammond was
a member of numerous or- ganizations and the recipi- ent of several awards and forms of recognition.
He was married to the late Mrs. Evelyne Mur- rell Hammond, a fellow student he met at Hamp- ton. They became the par- ents of three sons, Gary, Kevin, and Kerrick, and a daughter, Ms. Lisa Hammond.
He found pleasure in spending time with family and friends, traveling, fish- ing and relaxing on the beach.
Mr. Hammond is sur- vived by his children, brother, grandchildren, other family members and friends.
Wilson’s Funeral Home is in charge of handling arrangements.
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