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Post Office renamed in honor of Marvin Gaye

WAVE NEWSPAPERS — A local post office has been rededicated in honor of the late Grammy-winning soul singer Marvin Gaye. “Marvin Gaye’s music has transcended generations and gave the ‘70s and ‘80s a sound,” said U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, who introduced House Resolution 1496 to name the post office at 3585 S. Vermont Ave., adjacent to USC, as the Marvin Gaye Post Office.

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By Wave Wire Services

SOUTH LOS ANGELES — A local post office has been rededicated in honor of the late Grammy-winning soul singer Marvin Gaye.

“Marvin Gaye’s music has transcended generations and gave the ‘70s and ‘80s a sound,” said U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, who introduced House Resolution 1496 to name the post office at 3585 S. Vermont Ave., adjacent to USC, as the Marvin Gaye Post Office.

Because of solo hits such as “How Sweet It Is,” “Ain’t That Peculiar,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “What’s Going On” and “Sexual Healing” and his duet singles with such singers as Mary Wells and Tammi Terrell, Gaye was dubbed “The Prince of Motown” and “The Prince of Soul.”

He won Grammys in 1983 for best male rhythm and blues vocal performance and best R&B instrumental performance for “Sexual Healing.”

Gaye — shot and killed by his father on April 1, 1984, one day before what would have been his 45th birthday — was posthumously elected to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. In 2016, he was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.

“His music was cathartic,” biographer David Ritz said. “His songs were prayers, meditations, strategies for survival.”

The U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in honor of Gaye on April 2, which would have been Gaye’s 80th birthday, as part of its Music Icons series.

The post office had been known as the Dockweiler Post Office, named in honor of Isidore B. Dockweiler, a prominent lawyer in the first half of the 20th century who held numerous government positions and was once called by humorist Will Rogers “the Democratic Party of California.”

This article originally appeared in Wave Newspapers.

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Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

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IN MEMORIAM: William ‘Bill’ Patterson, 94

Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.

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William "Bill" Patterson, 94. Photo courtesy of the Patterson family.

William “Bill” Patterson, 94, of Little Rock, Arkansas, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2025, at his home in Oakland, CA. He was born on May 19, 1931, to Marie Childress Patterson and William Benjamin Patterson in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from Dunbar High School and traveled to Oakland, California, in 1948. William Patterson graduated from San Francisco State University, earning both graduate and undergraduate degrees. He married Euradell “Dell” Patterson in 1961. Bill lovingly took care of his wife, Dell, until she died in 2020.

Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.

He served on the boards of Oakland’s Urban Strategies Council, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, and the Oakland Workforce Development Board.

He was a three-term president of the Oakland branch of the NAACP.

Bill was initiated in the Gamma Alpha chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

In 1997 Bill was appointed to the East Bay Utility District Board of Directors. William Patterson was the first African American Board President and served the board for 27 years.

Bill’s impact reached far beyond his various important and impactful positions.

Bill mentored politicians, athletes and young people. Among those he mentored and advised are legends Joe Morgan, Bill Russell, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, and Lionel Wilson to name a few.

He is survived by his son, William David Patterson, and one sister, Sarah Ann Strickland, and a host of other family members and friends.

A celebration of life service will take place at Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center (Calvin Simmons Theater) on November 21, 2025, at 10 AM.

His services are being livestreamed at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1250167107131991/

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Euradell and William Patterson scholarship fund TBA.

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