First African American woman architect succumbs
Norma Merrick Sklarek broke barriers
Memorial services were being set for Norma Merrick Sklarek, a celebrated African American architect who accomplished numerous firsts in the field.
Sklarek died Monday at her home in Pacific Palisades. She was 85.
Born Norma Merrick in Harlem to Trinidadian parents, she attended Hunter College High School, then Barnard College and acquired her architecture degree in 1950 from Columbia University School of Architecture, where only one other female student was among the graduates. She was the first Black woman to be licensed as an architect in the United States, with certification in the state of New York in 1954 and in the state of California in 1962.
After receiving her degree, Sklarek was unable to find work at an architecture firm, so she took a job at the New York Department of Public Works. Later she spent four years at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. She became the first African American director of architecture at Gruen and Associates in Los Angeles in 1966, and she also worked with the Jon Jerde Partnership.
Sklarek became the first Black woman to be elected Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1980. In 1985, she became the first African American female architect to form her own architectural firm: Siegel, Sklarek, Diamond, which was the largest woman-owned and mostly woman-staffed architectural firm in the United States.
Sklarek was known for coordinating major projects. Among them are San Bernardino City Hall, the Fox Plaza in San Francisco, Terminal One at the Los Angeles International Airport, California Mart, Pacific Design Center, and the Embassy of the United States in Tokyo, Japan.
Following her retirement, she served on the California Architects Board. She also served for several years as chair of the AIA National Ethics Council. In her honor, Howard University offers the Norma Merrick Sklarek Architectural Scholarship Award. Sklarek is also an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
She is survived by her husband, Dr. Cornelius Welch, a son David Merrick Fairweather and three grandchildren.
Dick Clark, the seemingly ageless television fixture who hosted “American Bandstand” and helped the nation celebrate New Year’s Eve for nearly 40 years, died today, April 18, in Santa Monica of a massive heart attack at age 82.
Affectionately known as “America’s oldest teenager” for his perennially youthful looks and enthusiastic attitude, Clark went to St. John’s Health Center last night for an “outpatient procedure,” but suffered a “massive heart attack,” publicist Paul Shefrin said.
Jamaa Fanaka, born Walter Gordon, on Sept. 6, 1942, was an American filmmaker best known for his 1979 film, “Penitentiary,” and one of the leading directors of the L.A. Rebellion film movement. Fanaka died April 1, from complication of diabetes. He was 69.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Funeral services were pending today for the Rev. Maurice Chase, a Catholic priest known as “Father Dollar Bill” for his holiday giveaways of $1 bills to the homeless on Skid Row.
Chase, 92, died Sunday night at his home in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer, according to his nephew, Robert Boyd.
“He was a really great, colorful, wonderful man,” he said.
Gil Scott-Heron the seminal author, poet, and musician died at the age of 62 on May 27 of undisclosed causes at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York’s Manhattan borough. A funeral service was scheduled for 8:30 am, at the Riverside Church, with a public viewing in the evening from 6 to 9 pm at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home at Madison Avenue and 81st Street. Scott-Heron is survived by his wife, Blaxploitation actress Brenda Sykes, and their daughter Gia Scott-Heron.
On May 24, Mark Dantzler, program director at Challengers Boys and Girls club, died of complications from lung cancer. He was the oldest son of the founder of Challengers, Lou Dantzler and also one of the organization’s original members.
