Featured photo: The late Larry Foster. Photo courtesy of Deborah Ann Foster.
Written by Tanya Terry
The grand opening for the Beecher Community Center took place for the center at 1309 W. Coldwater Road, and the center is expected to honor the life of an esteemed former community member. The building was dedicated to the late Mt. Morris Township Supervisor Larry Foster, the first Black township supervisor in Genesee County!
The center will house the Beecher Community Development Council, the Greater Beecher Business District Association and the Claressa Shields Community Outreach Corp. Services offered at the center will include counseling and free hygiene and baby items for those in need.
Deborah Ann Foster was married to Larry Foster for 40 years before he died on June 10, 2007, just days before he was scheduled to retire from the Township Office.
She described Larry Foster as compassionate and as a “good Samaritan.”
The Mt. Morris Township Supervisor Jolena Sims contacted Deborah Foster about dedicating the center to her late husband.
“Of course, I told her that was a great idea,” said Deborah Foster.
Deborah Foster has lived in Mt. Morris Township, in the Beecher Community School District, for 54 years.
Larry Foster served honorably in the U.S. Army. Even before becoming township supervisor, Larry Foster was on the Beecher Community School Board for 15 years, was in the Men’s Club and coached kids’ basketball and football teams. He also served as Hasselbring Senior Citizens Center director and worked for the Detroit Street Senior Center, showing he cared about the young and old alike.
As township supervisor, Larry Foster went over and beyond doing what he would typically be expected to do in his role. Larry Foster had an open-door policy, and, according to Deborah Foster, people would go to their home late at night if they really needed to. At the grand opening and dedication ceremony many attendees expressed that they remember Larry Foster for what he stood for.
Deborah Foster shared that her late husband once went to a Rite Aid drug store that used to be located on the corner of Saginaw and Coldwater Road. A man in there had cut his leg. Since the hurt man told Larry Foster he didn’t want to go to the hospital, Larry Foster put the man in his car and took him to the Fosters’ primary physician.
“That was Dr. Kenneth Jordan,” Deborah Foster explained. “Dr. Jordan fixed this man up, sewed him up and Larry paid for it. Larry didn’t even tell me. You know how I found out about it? I was at Dr. Jordan’s office one day, and he told me what Larry had done. Larry never did come home and mention it to me.”
Every day he was in his position, Larry Foster was out in the entire Mt. Morris Township community.
“Every four years, when he ran for reelection, he won by more votes because Black, white, Mexican, it didn’t matter; Larry was for everyone! I still have people come up to me and tell me: ‘If it wasn’t for your husband, my son would be in jail.’ They always have personal stories.”
The new community center is open from 8-11a.m. on Mondays and from 1-3 p.m. on Wednesdays!
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