REV. SHELDON STOUDEMIRE passed away at the age of 57.
by Christian Morrow, Courier Staff Writer
Being an ex-U.S. Army Ranger, Rev. Sheldon Stoudemire often described his street ministry to rid the Black community of gun violence, drugs and crime in military terms. Frequently clad in fatigues, he spoke of going on “missions,” and “building an army of God.”
When this reporter met him in January 2006, he’d already been on 568 missions—a month later it was 600—and could be found on patrol regularly in the Hill District, the North Side, Downtown or the East End waging what he called a “spiritual war” for the soul of the community.
He said at the time that while he’d stopped armed teens from violent retaliation on several occasions, none had joined his army.
“I’ve been on 568 street missions in the last two years,” he said. “It could get frustrating, but you have to be tenacious. It’s war, and in war you’re going to lose people.”
In the early morning hours of July 27, while continuing his work by ministering to the men at the Northside Commons Ministries shelter on Brighton Road, Rev. Stoudemire was lost to that war when 19-year-old Gerald Adams allegedly shot him in the chest through a security window next to the door after Rev. Stoudemire refused him entry. He was 57.
Jay Poliziani, director of the shelter, said Rev. Stoudemire had worked there about two years and called his death a horrible tragedy.
“He worked very closely with men in the shelter, he had a significant impact on them,” he said. “We put some of the cards they wrote to his family up on our Facebook page. It’s a huge loss for all of us staff, clients, and completely horrifying to all of us.”
Cornell Jones, founder of Iron Cross Ministries, recalled that when organizing a 2005 rally for another slain preacher, he said Rev. Stoudemire was the first person he thought of for a speaker and he took a bullhorn from house to house to preach, pray and call on the community to find the killer.
“Within two days, the guy turned himself in,” Jones said. “Sheldon set the standard. He’s one of my heroes. He empowered people to let them know they had a purpose. And he had no fear. He showed me about legacy—and we have to keep his (legacy) alive. This is a huge loss for Pittsburgh and for me. He was just a loving individual and a disciplined man of God. My prayer is to be just a smidgen of what he was.”
In recent years, Rev. Stoudemire had moved to the Mon Valley, settling first in Clairton, then Braddock—he was one of the candidates seeking to succeed John Fetterman as mayor last year—but he frequently returned to Pittsburgh to continue his missions, which would often employ another skill to reach vulnerable youth and get them off the street—boxing.
A former champion himself, Rev. Stoudemire coached and trained hundreds of kids over the years, including champions Monty Meza Clay and Tika Hemingway, who at 17, was headed down the wrong road until she met Rev. Stoudemire on one of his missions on the North Side. Three months ago, she won her fourth national Golden Gloves title. She said Rev. Stoudemire’s death has left her sad and angry.
“He was my left hand. He’s the reason I go full steam ahead at everything—it’s from being around him. He rubbed off on me,” she said. “And I’m angry because he lived his entire life devoted to serving these at-risk teens in his community, getting them to put down their guns, helping them make better lives—and one of them killed him. Of all people, that was Rev. Sheldon Stoudemire. He was everything to a lot of people. That bullet didn’t just murder Sheldon, it murdered hundreds.”
FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR REVEREND SHELDON “SARGE” STOUDEMIRE
VIEWING:
Monday, August 5, 2019
4-8 p.m.
Living Water Ministry
736 Washington Avenue
Braddock, PA 15104
FUNERAL SERVICE
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
9:00 a.m.
Living Water Ministry
736 Washington Avenue
Braddock, PA 15104
Burial will immediately follow the funeral at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies.
Reverend Stoudemire’s employer, the Northside Common Ministries and a program of
Goodwill, has set up a memorial fund through Key Bank that will benefit Sheldon’s family.
Contributions of cash or checks can be taken to any Key Bank branch office. Checks should be made payable to the “Rev. Sheldon Stoudemire Memorial Fund.” Please reference this fund when making the deposit at the bank.
Contributions can also be sent to Goodwill CARES and they will coordinate the donation:
Goodwill SWPA
ATTN: Goodwill CARES
118 52nd Street
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