Eddie Manuel Demmings, Jr.

Eddie M. Demmings, Jr. was born on January 28, 1948 in Seattle, Washington and passed on January 10, 2024 in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Eddie was the son of the late Eddie M. Demmings, Sr. and Romelia Demmings Turner. His biological father passed when Eddie was around 4 years old. His mother married James Turner who raised Eddie along with his sister, Peggy, as his own children.

Eddie grew up in Seattle where he attended Cleveland High School, where there were mostly Asian, Mexican American, Native American, and Black students. He was also one of the three Black students who were at top of the class. He attended and graduated from the University of Washington and Rutgers Law School.

Eddie lived a great life. One of his greatest and proudest memories was being one of the founding members of the Black Student Union that through its activism resulted in the University of Washington establishing a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program that is considered a national model. The implementation of a Black Studies program that Eddie played a role in establishing has evolved over the past 55 years into American Ethnic Studies.

Eddie’s friends remember him as the “warrior” because of how he pursued social justice with a passion throughout his entire life. He always wanted to pursue justice for people from all walks of life. “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice” was one of his favorite Martin Luther King, Jr. quotes and epitomized his own life work.

Because Eddie believed that traveling is a fountain of knowledge, he loved to travel, and over the course of his life he traveled to various continents and countries. Among the continents and countries that he traveled to were: Africa, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, England, Grenada, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Russia, Spain, St. Thomas, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela and Vietnam.

In 1981, after graduating from Rutgers Law School and passing the bar exam, Eddie started working at District Council 37 as a Lawyer in the Legal Department. Through the years he rose to the position of General Counsel of the biggest labor union in New York City that comprised more than 120,000 public workers.

In 1986 Eddie met Irma Canales, and they married in 1990. Together they were blessed with two beautiful children, Andres and Gabriel who were Eddie’s pride and joy.

Eddie M. Demmings was a brilliant man who had an exceptionally rich command of language. In his final years he enjoyed watching sports, including basketball, football, baseball, and tennis. He especially enjoyed watching Olympic events, which he viewed with his deep understanding of international affairs, events and politics.

Eddie M. Demmings’ family, many friends, and everyone he impacted during his wonderful journey through life will miss Eddie immensely.