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Wilson Roosevelt Jerman, former White House butler who served through 11 presidencies, dies of COVID-19
By Aris Folley - 05/20/20 04:10 PM EDT
Video, pix at link~
Wilson Roosevelt Jerman, who served as a White House butler for more than five decades, has died of COVID-19 at the age of 91, local media report.
Granddaughter Jamila Garrett said in an interview with FOX 5 DC that that Jerman first began working at the White House as a cleaner under the Eisenhower administration in 1957.
She said it wasnt until the former President John F. Kennedy came into office in the 1960s that her grandfather was promoted to butler after building a rapport with the first couple.
snip//
In her interview with the news station, Garrett took the chance to thank former first lady Michelle Obama, whose husband was the last president under whom Jerman served, for including a photo of her grandfather in her recent memoir "Becoming."
more...
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/498811-wilson-roosevelt-jerman-former-white-house-butler-who-served-through
Vogon_Glory
(9,132 posts)RIP, Mr. Jerman.
sinkingfeeling
(51,474 posts)area51
(11,922 posts)Lucinda
(31,170 posts)oasis
(49,410 posts)Rest in Peace
Cha
(297,692 posts)demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)I seem to remember outrage that dotard let him go?
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)Celerity
(43,535 posts)JI7
(89,274 posts)i think an announcer or something that did it years ago and by tradition every president elect asks him back.
Trump had some donor do it instead.
niyad
(113,581 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,195 posts)...with the folks that worked there, they interviewed this guy. I remember the first name.
This was several years back. (Early Obama years?)
He was a gentle soul. But I got the sense that anybody under him better be on their toes.
Tight ship around that captain!
stillcool
(32,626 posts)sad to not know of him before he died.
dameatball
(7,400 posts)Karadeniz
(22,574 posts)Celerity
(43,535 posts)paleotn
(17,986 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)starring Forest Whittaker and Oprah Winfrey?
Rest In Peace Sir.
https://www.google.com/search?q=the+movie+The+Butler&client=safari&hl=en-us&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=BTlf2cBqDMOXSM%253A%252CTy_7pIJndsJBLM%252C%252Fm%252F0lkvn87&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kQ_Z3XZzdRxOHwn4u64GwcCSlfN0Q&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjm7YPf48PpAhVaK80KHReTCU0Q_B0wG3oECA0QAw&biw=1173&bih=762&dpr=2#imgrc=Cgc3sXZ-qzHh-M
It was based on the life of Eugene Allen
Joe Mauriceovich
(52 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,212 posts)Liberty Belle
(9,535 posts)He had some interesting stories to tell about JFK, LBJ, etc Wish I had a copy of that old newspaper story.
If he is the one I'm remembering, he also served as chief White House usher for a while
He used to awaken the president each morning, and was once startled by Caroline Kennedy's missing pet hamster that scampered across JFK's bed.
He spoke of Prince Philip inviting him to the royal palace if he ever visited Britain, back before the civil rights movement when black staffers were not treated with such dignity by most here.