TRAILBLAZING ENTREPRENEUR AND CIVIC ACTIVIST ALBERT DOTSON SR. PASSES AWAY AT 83.
South Florida is saddened as we grieve the loss of trailblazing entrepreneur and civic activist Albert Dotson Sr. on May 29, 2021, at 83.
Dotson was a passionate member of the South Florida community. He devoted a lot of his efforts to advancing higher education. Former Governor Jeb Bush appointed him to join the Florida International University Board of Trustees. He later served as Board Chair, Dotson was instrumental in the founding of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and the FIU College of Law.
In his early days, he grew up in a single-parent household in Memphis, Tennessee. He was raised by his mother, Alberta. She worked as a housekeeper struggling to make ends meet. Once his mother remarried, his family moved to Hamtramck, Michigan, where Dotson later met his wife, Earlene Puryear. They were blessed with five children and 13 grandchildren.
Though he didn’t have it easy growing up, his steadfast attention to detail and hard work is how he became Sear’s first African American manager in 1956. “I believe in being dressed properly, especially for work,’’ said Dotson. “I have a fetish for white shirts,’’ he admitted. Dotson’s work wasn’t done, he continued to break racial barriers when he was elected the first African American president of the Orange Bowl Committee in February 1998. He has been a member of the group since 1989.
Dotson then moved on to make his mark as president of the Miami-Dade County Fair and Exposition Committee from 1996 to 1998. He is a Life Member of the 100 Black Men of America, Inc., and the NAACP, for which he served as Vice President of the Miami Chapter. Notably, he was a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He was initiated as a member of the Beta Beta Lambda Chapter on March 20, 2004.
Among Dotson’s many accomplishments, he will be remembered as a loving husband, father, and grandfather. He was a faithful member of Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church and served as a Deacon, and taught Sunday school classes for married couples with his wife.
Dotson is survived by his wife Earlene, sons Albert Jr (Gail Ash) and Jonathan, daughters Dr. Toya Greene (Jeff), LaTéssa Hall, and Christa Dean (Fred), 13 grandchildren Charmaine, Ashley, Solomon, Joel, Bryant, Albert III, VerShona, Parmie, Christen, Briana, Grace, Emmanuel, and Alexis.
