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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 26, 2019)
Page 12 June 26, 2019 Harris Photography Safe, Clean and Sober Leader Dies C ontinueD from f ront 503-730-1156 Sweet 16 to 100th Event Coverage, Prints on site and Video antonioharris.com of Miracles Club, located at North- east Martin Luther King Boule- vard near Skidmore Street, Booker worked at the House of Umoja, a residential gang intervention pro- gram, and Stay Clean, Inc., an ad- diction treatment facility. Booker took the leadership po- sition at Miracles Club in 2016, where he oversaw its substantial growth in the form of the non-prof- it opening a secondary residential location, Miracles Central in the Lloyd District. His leadership was needed after a previous executive director, Herman Bryant, was sen- tenced to three years in prison for embezzlement. Booker was himself a longtime, card carrying member of the Mir- acles Club and served as a board member before then, during the organization’s infancy in 1993. He later grew into a mentorship role for others in recovery. Booker had known for years the Miracles Club founders—Sam Brown, Johnnie W. Gage, and John- nie A. Gage, the latter of whom has now taken up the mantel of interim Miracles Club executive director. In addition, Booker also owned a historic family business, Courte- sy Janitorial, and was a Deacon at Vancouver Avenue Baptist Church. Miracles board member and friend of Booker Tim Wilson said the many hats Booker wore is how he was able to positively impact so many people’s lives. “[Y]ou got different people at the church, you got different peo- ple he’s dealing with up in his busi- ness. And he was up there in all of those. I mean he was just the man in all of those,” Wilson said. “He was just a loyal, great man that left much too early,” Mark Bradley, Booker’s childhood friend, added. Bradley and Booker’s fathers were friends, Bradley explained, having survived the 1948 Van- port Flood together and later both moved to northeast Portland, where their sons were born and raised. Bradley’s father owned a paint shop while Booker’s father owned the family’s janitorial sup- ply store. Later, the sons took up the respective businesses of their fathers and helped each other out, lending equipment to each other for different jobs. Bradley recalled that when his mother died, the always sharply dressed Booker took a new suit out of his own wardrobe and gave it to Bradley to wear during his mom’s funeral. “He was just that type of guy. Had a heart of gold,” Bradley said. Thomas Cooper, a chef at Heav- enly Taste Café adjacent to the Miracles Club, told the Portland Observer Booker was his mentor in recovery and had known him for over two decades. “He taught us how to live, pretty much to live life…He was a pillar in the community,” Cooper said. Pastor Dwight Minnieweath- er owns the Heavenly Taste Café, which many Miracles Club mem- bers frequent, though it is a differ- ent business entity. Minnieweather told the Port- land Observer he still hasn’t really grasped Booker’s passing. “It’s still kind of hard for me to come explain how I feel about it,” Minnieweather said, adding that the hole Booker left in the commu- nity has left people “scattered.” “He was doing a whole lot.” Minnieweather, who is a special events committee member of Mira- cles Club, had worked with Booker for different projects over the past 15 years. “When Miracles was at this emergency point, he was the man who pulled us through the storm and got everything back in order.” Minnieweather said he hoped Booker’s name could one day be dedicated to a future project of Miracles Club, like a library or building. “I just really think it’s important for the word to get out to the peo- ple of how important he was to our community. I truly think that needs to be driven home.” Booker was in talks to open an additional Miracles Center facility across the street from their current location, on Garfield Avenue and Mason Street, Minnieweather said. Like their previous two locations, it would include housing and mixed use facilities. A Miracles program in Gresham was also in the works. Michael Booker’s funeral is be- ing planned for Vancouver Avenue Baptist Church and a tentative date is scheduled for July 10, McDon- ald said.
