The Rev. Paul Winn Jr., ‘visionary’ and creator of Lawrence’s MLK celebration, dies at 63

In this file photo from 2002, Paul Winn Jr. speaks in his role as minister at Praise Temple Church of God in Christ, 315 E. Seventh St.

On one of the last days of his life, the Rev. Paul Winn Jr. told a couple of friends, and fellow ministers, that he wanted Lawrence to have a street named after Martin Luther King Jr.

After establishing Lawrence’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in 1986 and helping run it for 30 years, Winn wanted the street name to be “a legacy,” the Rev. William Dulin said.

“That was the last thing he shared with us,” Dulin said. “His heart was seeing a street named after Martin Luther King. He said he didn’t want a back street; he wanted a main street, because he wanted people to know what Martin Luther King did was for the nation as a whole.”

Winn — the minister of Praise Temple Church of God in Christ, president of Ecumenical Fellowship Inc. and a former human relations specialist for the city — died Monday at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. He was 63.

The Rev. Leo Barbee, a pastor at Victory Bible Church in Lawrence, knew Winn as a kid, when Barbee was growing up in Lawrence and Winn in Topeka. Winn, Barbee and Dulin, minister of Calvary Church of God in Christ, came together in 1986 to create Ecumenical Fellowship Inc. They started Lawrence’s MLK celebration, which has grown to be a weeklong observance.

The Rev. Paul Winn, far right, is pictured with, from left, the Rev. Bill Dulin, the Rev. Leo Barbee, Neeli Bendapudi, and Bernie Kish at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day community breakfast on Jan. 18, 2016.

The three “worked as a team,” Barbee said. Barbee and Dulin described Winn as “enthusiastic” and “a visionary” who “gave his all” in everything he pursued.

Winn was always coming up with new ideas, the two said, and when he told them last year he wanted to take 50 children to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Barbee and Dulin jumped on board.

“He was always concerned for how we could improve things for our young people, education-wise,” Barbee said. “He was that kind of person.”

A city proclamation was given to Winn in 2005 to thank him for bringing the community together, promoting racial equity and encouraging diversity. It said Winn had shown “extraordinary commitment” to Lawrence and Douglas County.

“His dedication and love for the community” is what Dulin said Winn should be remembered for.

In this file photo from 2002, the Rev. Paul Winn Jr. takes a call at his City Hall office. As a human relations specialist for the city of Lawrence, Winn dealt with discrimination cases during the weekdays. On the weekends he preached at the Praise Temple Church of God in Christ, 315 E. Seventh St.

“He was always trying to think about things that would help not only the African-American community but people at large,” Dulin said. “He had a concern for all people.”

Winn was still ministering at Praise Temple Church of God in Christ, at 315 E. Seventh St. in Lawrence. He worked for the city mediating discrimination disputes from 1978 until he retired in 2009.

Winn is survived by his wife, Elaine, and a brother and sisters.

Memorial contributions may be made in Winn’s name to Praise Temple Church of God in Christ and may be sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary.