By Joi-Marie Murphy McKenzie Lewis
Hundreds gathered inside Metropolitan A.M.E. Church in Washington, D.C. June 5 to celebrate and remember the life of Rev. Dr. Marie Elizabeth Murphy Phillips Braxton.
Rev. Dr. Braxton, or Rev. Doc, as she was affectionately called, was a beloved high school educator, writer, preacher, mentor, civic leader and a history-making African Methodist Episcopal clergywoman. She died peacefully in her Maryland home after a lengthy illness. She was 77.
At a time when women in A.M.E. churches were still fighting for their much-needed place in ministry beyond missionary work, Rev. Dr. Braxton broke stained-glass ceilings by becoming one of the first women to be ordained an itinerant elder in the Baltimore Annual Conference. She helped open many doors for women clergy to follow behind her, creating a difference that would impact generations of women in ministry and the A.M.E. church at large.
Rev. Dr. Braxton, who had served as an assistant pastor at Metropolitan for 11 years, was also an AFRO shareholder, a former board member and the granddaughter of longtime AFRO publisher, the late Dr. Carl Murphy, who turned the newspaper into one of the nation’s most influential Black-owned media companies.
Born January 22, 1949 in Annapolis, Md., Rev. Dr. Braxton was the oldest child of Frank and Martha Elizabeth Murphy Phillips, and the older sister of Benjamin Murphy and Rachael Murphy Phillips Humphrey, the AFRO’s president and board secretary, respectively. She was also the granddaughter of Vashti Turley Murphy, one of the 22 founders of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
“There was nothing easy about her journey,” her husband of nearly five decades, former A.M.E. presiding elder, Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Braxton, wrote in “My Life with Marie,” part of the funeral program. “But my wife was a strong Black woman. She was in every sense an accomplished, self-determined, forward thinking, compassionate and spirit-led woman.”
Inside Metropolitan, Rev. Dr. Braxton’s family dressed in white. There was lightness and laughter that filled the air, perhaps a nod to the deceased’s light and effervescent spirit. The service brought together generations of A.M.E. leaders, members of the historic Murphy family, AFRO board members and civic leaders from the Baltimore and Washington areas.
From behind the pulpit, family members, sorority sisters from Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and civic leaders reflected on Rev. Dr. Braxton’s life and her decades-long influence across many communities.
Cousin Cimmon Byrd, representatives of The Philomathians Club and AFRO publisher and cousin, Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper, were also present to pay their respects.
“In 1973, she was among 11 Afro family members under the age of 30 elected to the newspaper’s Board of Directors. Years later, she returned to board service as both a director and shareholder,” Dr. Draper said. “Then, in 1977, at just 28 years old, Marie was selected to serve as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes, becoming the youngest member of the panel that year. Just think about that for a moment: A young Black woman from Baltimore, helping to evaluate the nation’s highest honor in journalism.”
Her son, Derek Eugene Braxton, remembered his mother for how she infused happiness in his life in a tribute video played at the funeral.
“Mommy, remember what we said: Nothing can break us apart. You’d draw a million smiling faces in the notes you’d leave me. I hope you’re happy, like for real,” he recalled. “I know you’re smiling forever.”
AME bishops, including Bishop A.J. Richardson, Bishop James Davis, Bishop John R. Bryant, who introduced the Braxtons, and Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, her cousin, also shared tributes.
“Soror Marie loved Jesus and Jesus loved her back,” Bishop McKenzie said during Delta Sigma Theta’s Omega Omega Service, held before the funeral. “She was born in charge, a leader from an early age, managing a household, her siblings’ lives and everything else in the classic style of those strong Murphy women.”
Leaders from the A.M.E. church’s Women’s Missionary Society also shared about Rev. Dr. Marie.
“There was an elegance about her; a kind of sophistication without any pretense. She was pleasant, kind, and radiant with a proper…speaking style,” said Retired Supervisor Connie Richardson, who called Rev. Dr. Braxton a friend.
“Dr. Marie, my friend, did not let her light go out while she yet lived. Dr. Marie, my friend, did not lose her faith, her hope, her giving spirit, her entrepreneurship spirit, her creativity,” Supervisor Arelis Davis, of AME’s Seventh Episcopal District, said. “She truly believed that only what we do for Christ will last.”
The funeral service, which was presided over by Metropolitan’s pastor William H. Lamar IV and featured a musical tribute by Rev. Andre Jefferson, was punctuated by a eulogy from Rev. Dr. Joanne Browning, a longtime friend of the deceased, and the longtime co-pastor of Ebenezer A.M.E. Church in Fort Washington, Md.
“Anyone that knew or encountered what I would call the ‘Rev. Marie Experience,’ you knew she had a special, divine connection to Jesus Christ,” Rev. Dr. Browning said. “She was a woman saved by grace and called by God.”
“A wife, a mother, a family member, and a beloved friend, a pastor, a preacher, a writer, a Delta, creative, gifted and anointed by the Holy Ghost. Because of her divine connection with the things of God, she was profound and prolific when she spoke whether it was a preaching moment or in a private conversation,” Browning continued.
Rev. Dr. Braxton leaves behind her husband, Rev. Dr. Ronald Braxton, and two adult children, Shannon Elizabeth, and Derek Eugene. She is also survived by her younger siblings, Benjamin Murphy Phillips and Rachael Phillips Humphrey, along with a host of cousins, nieces, nephews, godchildren and friends.
