Knoxville College Alum and MLK’s Successor Passes

Rev. Dr. Joseph Roberts Jr., 79, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s successor, died Sunday of congestive heart failure. They will hold his funeral Saturday at 12 noon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

Rev. Roberts graduated from cum laude Knoxville College, an HBCU located in Knoxville,Tennessee; in 1956.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Roberts was “Hand picked by the Rev. Martin Luther King Sr.” and has led “Ebenezer Baptist Church as its pastor for 30 years.”

Rev. Roberts leaves behind a wife named Esther Jean Roberts, a son, Carlyle, two daughters, Cheryl Richmond and Cynthia Roberts-Emory, and six grandchildren.