Rev. Alphonso Washington enjoyed a long and healthy life, but died after a brief illness on February 1, 2020, at age 106 near his residence in Warrenton, Virginia. He was amazingly accomplished, amazingly – at times, impossibly – high profile. Yet, he was unaffected and preferred to wear humility as his badge of honor over being honored for being himself.
Born in Washington, DC, on October 18, 1913, he spent his formative years west of the Nation’s Capital in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. As a young man, he was drafted into the service of his country during World War II whereupon, following training at Fort Meade, Maryland, and in Florida, he was stationed at the Gary Army Air Corps Base in San Marcos, Texas. He visited, joined and became involved in the First Baptist Church (NBC) of San Marcos as an active duty soldier. This would make for a formative affiliation lasting the duration of his life spent in San Marcos.
During his first visit to First Baptist in January 1943, he met the Tolliver family, with whom lived a niece, Rosa Mae Johns. The family invited him home after church service for Sunday “dinner,” and he “ate Rosa Mae’s cooking ever after,” as he would often describe it. The two married on September 22, 1943, and to their union were born a daughter and two sons. While busy and active in church leadership, with young family obligations, and working at the San Marcos Baptist Academy leading plumbing maintenance, he also found time to attend Guadalupe (Bible) College in Seguin, Texas.
