Lucious Anthony Tate

LUCIOUS ANTHONY TATE was born December 1, 1941 in Memphis, TN to the late Cassell and Queen Esther Davis Tate. One of sixteen children, he attended Longview S.D.A. with his parents and siblings. He was united in marriage to Thelma Lee Morris on December 26, 1965. “Dike”, as he was affectionately called by many, attended Carnes and Booker T. Washington High school, graduating with the class of 1959. He enlisted in the United States Navy where he retired after 20 years of service. He both attended and worked as an instructor at numerous technical and aviation schools across the United States and other countries. Much of his time in the military was spent at N.A.S. Millington and towards the end of his naval career he earned a masters degree in instruction from the University of Massachusetts. After retiring from the navy, Mr. Tate worked for Northern Telecom (Nortel) and State Technical Institute at Memphis (Southwest). On 1996 he moved to Pensacola, FL where he was employed as an instructor at N.A.S. Pensacola for several years. He returned to Memphis in December 2006. Mr. Tate was an avid reader and he spent much time researching African-American history, problems, and progress. In recent years, he began using the name “Taharka” which was the name of one of the Kings of Ancient Africa. He spent the last half of his life reading, studying, lecturing, and promoting the African-American cause. He leaves to mourn his passing his wife, Thelma Lee Morris Tate; three daughters, LaTonya Tate and Kimerie Tate of Memphis, and Kamillah Tate of Pomona, CA; four grandchildren, Keenan Morris, Jaylen Anthony, Landon Christopher, and Kerimie Danielle; four brothers, Douglas Tate (Helena) of Huntsville, AL, Charles Tate (Florence) of Washington, DC, Bobby Tate (Celetia) of Pomona, CA, and Gene Tate of Memphis; three sisters, Audrey Tate of Memphis, Daisy Coston of Birmingham, AL, and Cheryl Burton (Sheffield) of Yonkers, NY. He also leaves a host of cousins, nieces, nephews, including Terry Dandridge and Rozelle Blanchard who were especially helpful to him during his illness, as well as many dear friends.Funeral services will be Monday, March 26 at 11 a.m. at N. J. Ford & Sons with burial following in West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery on Forest Hill-Irene.