Quay Wimberly Whitlock (March 3, 1934, age 90), of South Orange, NJ, died peacefully on December 31, 2024.

Quay was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina on March 3, 1934. She was the daughter of John Jameston Wimberly, owner and operator of Ye Old English Tailor Shop, and Marguerite Person Wimberly, retired teacher, principal, and supervisor. Quay's primary education was in Rocky Mount, NC, where she graduated from Booker T. Washington High School (1952), before matriculating at Fisk University (Nashville, TN) where she earned a Bachelor's degree (1956).

Quay was an actively engaged student while attending Fisk. She was a member of the Jubilee-inspired marching band, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She continued to support the college into her later life, as an unwavering Fiskite! Quay established life-long friendships with fellow students while at Fisk that have nourished the lives of generations that followed.

Quay relocated from Nashville, TN to Washington, D.C. where she earned a Master of Social Work degree from Howard University School of Social Work (1959). She then completed coursework toward a Doctorate in Social Work at Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia, PA.

After graduate school, Quay began her career in New York City, where she was first employed by Sheltering Arms Children and Family Services. She was a fierce champion for the basic needs of children and was widely later recognized for her advocacy during her tenure with the Newark Board of Education, Essex County, NJ.

Quay adopted her strong work ethic from her dutiful parents, who broke several barriers that served others and fueled Quay's self-confidence and expectation for personal achievement. Her education and career choices were further inspired by her grandfathers - W. Lee Person (maternal) and Dred Wimberly (paternal) - who both served in the North Carolina state legislature during the Reconstruction era.

Through this family legacy, the young Quay Wimberly became intellectually curious, highly industrious, and keenly observant. In addition to being an excellent student, she was unafraid of hard work. She toiled through hot summers working in tobacco fields, and in her parent's dry cleaning store after school, learning all aspects of business. These early experiences informed her understanding of people, community, and the structures through which people live (including the value of a dollar, which in her interpretation, either contributed valuably to or had a detrimental effect on a person's potential to have a prosperous life).

Quay Wimberly Whitlock's love language was the arts (e.g. music, dance, and fine art). She shared this passion with her family and friends and introduced those newer to the arts to works uniquely transformed by the artist's style of expression. Her support of the arts spanned the entirety of her life. She was a docent for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, which endured her longstanding connection to the city of Newark, where she spent the majority of her career.

Quay Wimberly Whitlock resided in South Orange, NJ, from 1973-2015, raised and educated her children, and was active in their lives. During her time in South Orange, she also became a licensed real estate agent and helped several families purchase homes in the community she loved so much. Inspired by the shared attraction and proximity to New York City, among the shifting composition of students and families, she also taught English as a second language to international students in Essex County.

The Whitlocks were members of Prospect Presbyterian Church (Maplewood, NJ). Quay later visited other church communities and became an active member of The Riverside Church in New York.

She is survived by daughters, Quay R. Whitlock (Fair Lawn, NJ), Kendal K. Whitlock (Edgewater, NJ); granddaughter, Perci Ayele Edmondson (Fair Lawn, NJ); stepchildren, Linda D. Whitlock (Wintergreen, WV) and Warren S. Whitlock (Alexandria, VA); several cousins, extended family, and many cherished friends.

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