The Rev. Reginald Blow, 71, the first Black president of the Wichita Falls ISD School Board, died Sunday.
In addition to serving as a WFISD trustee, Blow was a community activist, a minister at New Hope Church in Wichita Falls and the publisher of a newspaper, the North Texas Journal.
WFISD officials confirmed the death of the former longtime member of the School Board.
Blow was elected to the WFISD School Board in 1999, according to a July 28, 2016, article in the Times Record News. He became the district’s first Black school board president in 2010. He opted to not run for another term in 2016 after 17 years on the panel.
Robert M. Castle, retired pastor at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, said he and Blow grew up in the neighborhoods of Wichita Falls.
“He was very sincere. He never gave up on his church,” Castle said. “He was very actively involved in the social efforts of our community, and I admired him for that.”
Wichitan Bob Payton, a former trustee, recalled serving with Blow on the School Board.
“Rev. Blow was a great representative for the School Board,” Payton said. “He understood the team concept of working with the other members to ensure that the right outcomes came along.”
The city of Wichita Falls extended condolences to Blow’s family and friends, noting he was an advocate for multiple non-profit organizations, according to a media release Monday from the city. He also worked intermittently as a part-time city bus driver for a decade, highlighting Blow’s long-standing support for public transportation.
“Today, our city mourns the loss of a truly remarkable community leader,” Wichita Falls Mayor Tim Short said in the media release. “The compassion, dedication and unwavering commitment to others shaped not only programs and policies, but lives. We are better because of his service, and his legacy will continue to guide us.”
Blow told the Times Record News in 2016 he started attending school board meetings when he was in eighth grade.
“I would ride my bicycle down there and watch the school board meetings,” he said in the TRN article. “I was interested in the process.”
Blow said he especially was captivated when the federal government had to step in to push the district to fully integrate its schools — something that didn’t happen until the 1990s.
Blow said what he has been most proud of is seeing the district distinguish itself through such programs as the college-minded Academic Success Program, which resulted in Wichita Falls ISD students attending Ivy League schools.
“We have established the fact that they can go to any school from Harvard to Midwestern State (University) or Vernon College, and succeed,” he said.
Blow made an unsuccessful bid for the Wichita Falls City Council in 1977 when he was 22 years old. in his first bid for the School Board in 1994, he lost by a slim margin of eight votes.
Blow had faced controversy in his later years on the School Board over questions of residency in the district and attendance of meetings. He said in the 2016 TRN article that did not factor in to his decision to leave the board.
As publisher of the North Texas Journal, Blow concentrated on “good news” about Black people, according to a Feb. 10, 1990, article in the Times Record News. He said the newspaper was a “one-man” show in which he sold advertising, conducted interviews and delivered newspapers.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: UPDATED, Rev. Reginald Blow, first Black WFISD Board president, dies at 71
Reporting by Lynn Walker, Wichita Falls Times Record News / Wichita Falls Times Record News
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