Grace Chambliss Pinkston

GRACE CHAMBLISS PINKSTON

On January 9, 2005, at her home in Washington, DC, an accomplished crossword puzzle maker and classical pianist. Grace was born in Birmingham, AL and came to Washington to study piano at Howard University, where she met her husband of 58 years, Garland Pinkston Sr. She was 77.

Grace was the daughter of Minnie and Luther Laflin Chambliss, the first African American to pass the written Bar Examination and be admitted to practice law in Birmingham, AL. She was active in the Civil Rights movement and a committed worker for the Washington Urban League. She developed a second career as a crosswork puzzle maker. Her puzzles, which were both clever and educational, often emphasized African American history and culture. They were published in newspapers including The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post and in crossword puzzle books. A highlight of this career was designing a puzzle based on the Clinton Administration, which the president both worked and acknowledged in a special letter to her.

In addition to her husband, Garland, Sr., a well-known local restauranteur and business leader, she is survived by a son, Garland, Jr. of Washington, DC; a daughter, Sheila of Silver Spring, MD; a grandson, Brandon D. Pinkston; daughters of her two sisters, Cecilia Jakovich Woods and Norma Nickens Allen and a host of other nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

Visitation will be held at McGUIRE FUNERAL HOME, 7400 Georgia Ave., NW on Friday, January 14 from 2 p.m. until time of funeral service at 3 p.m.

Interment will be held at Rock Creek Cemetery on Saturday, January 15, 2005.