Shropshire family remember grandmother and her leadership on MLK Jr day

A songwriter, composer, grandmother and leader. Louise Shropshire was a woman many people related to as the woman who became the sound behind the civil rights movement

Tony Shropshire grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio with his grandmother Louise Shropshire, who adopted him.

“She was a very energetic, high-profile business woman. She loved people and her main objective was to help,” Tony said.

But Shropshire wasn’t just a grandmother — she was a songwriter who was inspired by the civil rights movement and its leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tony says his grandmother wanted to meet King. In 1964 she extended an invitation to stay at their home in Ohio, which he accepted.

“Streets were all blocked off, people were standing around just to get a glimpse of Dr. King,” Tony said.

Shropshire’s great granddaughter, Sanita, an assistant principal at a Beaumont elementary school says her great grandmother taught her to do her best every day.

“She had a bigger than-life personality and she was the joy of my life. I did everything with grandma. She was the first to instill in me the true meaning of leadership,” Sanita said.

Shropshire died in 1993 at the age of 80, but her legacy still lives on through her family and her hymns.