Last Parent of a Child Killed in 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing Dies
FILE – President Barack Obama signs a bill designating the Congressional Gold Medal commemorating the lives of the four young girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing of 1963, Friday, May 24, 2013, in the Oval Office of the White House. Standing, from left are Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., and Lisa McNair. Seated at right is Thelma “Maxine” Pippen McNair, the mother of Denise McNair. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
The last living parent of any of the four Black girls killed in the 1963 Alabama church bombing has died.
Maxine McNair’s family announced her death in a press release Sunday at the age of 93. A cause of death was not given.
Her daughter, 11-year-old Denise McNair, was the youngest girl killed in the bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church. Three members of the Ku Klux Klan were eventually convicted in the case.
Maxine McNair worked as a teacher for 33 years in the Birmingham public school system. Her daughter, Lisa McNair, said her mother helped change many lives.
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FILE – Christopher McNair, center left, and Maxine McNair, right, parents of Denise McNair, one of four African American girls who died in a church bombing in Birmingham, Ala., Sept. 15, hold a news conference at a hotel, Sept. 20, 1963, in New York. (AP Photo/File)
