Philomene Seymore, pillar of the Central Long Beach community, dies at 97

A pillar of the Central Long Beach community who helped found Antioch Church and was a longtime community volunteer and activist has died.

Philomene Seymore, 97, passed away May 11, said her daughter, Patricia Lofland, also a well-known leader in the community as the first African American elected to the Long Beach City College Board of Trustees, among other appointments and activities.

Seymore was a community fixture, living on 15th Street since 1960 at a home around the coer from Antioch Church affectionately called “The Compound,” Lofland said. She was a watchful eye in the neighborhood and was famous for her Creole cooking and pies.

“She was the community,” her daughter said. “She eventually became Momma Seymore to everyone else.”

Sixth District Councilman Dee Andrews called her a gatekeeper who helped found the first community watch on her block and was passionate about engaging her friends and neighbors to vote, even volunteering as a poll worker for every election.

“Mrs. Seymore really kept 15th Street above and beyond,” Andrews said. “She was always ahead of the game [...] She’s a mother of all mothers.”

Bo on Dec. 23, 1918 in New Orleans to Thomas Jefferson Foster and Josephine Daniels Beett, Seymore had six sisters who preceded her in death, and two brothers who still live in New Orleans, according to the family. She married Willie Seymore in 1934, the only child of Alberta Becnel-Seymore and Edward Seymore, and had six children.

Their fourth child, Tyrone, died from pneumonia and the family later moved to Long Beach in 1958.

Seymore was a founding member of Antioch Church and neighbor to founding pastor Joe Chaney, her family said.

Sister Seymore, as church members called her, was deeply involved in congregation life, said Wayne Chaney, Sr. a Long Beach firefighter, son of Joe Chaney and father of Wayne Chaney, Jr., current senior pastor at Antioch.

“She was always there, helping in a leadership role,” Chaney said. “She was everyone’s mother. It wasn’t just limited to the community. [Her actions] crossed different lines. She had a great sense of humor and she was very direct. She will truly be missed.”

During President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, Seymore became a community activist, Lofland said. She recruited her friends and people in the neighborhood to form a credit union and was a founding member of the Long Beach Section of the National Council of Negro Women. She was also active in the Long Beach Chapter of the NAACP.

Seymore also received numerous accolades for her volunteer work under former Long Beach Mayors Eie Kell and Beverly O’Neill, along with councilmembers Jim Wilson, Clarence Smith, Doris Topsy-Elvord and Dee Andrews, the obituary said. She raised money to help install a statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. at MLK Park, volunteered with St. Mary Medical Center, City of Hope, the American Red Cross, was a Long Beach Fire Department ambassador and served on the Long Beach Police Department Community Advisory Board.

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Philomene Seymore was preceded in death by her husband Willie Seymore Sr.; son Willie Seymore Jr. and granddaughter, Shaon K. Murrell.

She is survived by her son, Charles (Barbara) Seymore; daughters Patricia (Trusten) Lofland, Gwen Murrell Powell, Barbara A Seymore; 11 grandchildren; 26 great-grandchildren; 29 great, great-grandchildren and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Antioch Church, 1535 Gundry Ave. Burial will follow at 1:30 p.m. Rose Hills Memorial Park, 3888 Workman Mill Road in Whittier.