Foster Giles

Celebrating Mr. Foster Giles
Mr. Giles was born in 1920 in Alabama and has seen many things that most of us read only in textbooks. He was married to a wonderful woman who he shared his life with for 57 years before her passing.  As a young boy, he experienced the depression of 1929. He served in a segregated World War II and was enlisted when the bomb was dropped on Pearl Harbor. Segregation was alive even after the war. He would take his wife and daughters to the movies on Saturday night. His daughters were not aware of the “COLORED ONLY” signs as he would buy hot dogs and sodas for the family as they proceeded happily to the balcony (which was designated for Blacks only) to watch the movie or cartoon of that day. The Civil Rights movement that we read about was the activity of the day for him. He would listen to Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Fred Shuttleworth, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and many, many more as they  sacrificed to bring more equality to our nation but more so to the South at that time.
Though these times seemed grim, Mr. Giles was a family man and family was his priority. He would work double shifts at US Steel in Birmingham Alabama, where he became the first Black Foreman, to support his family and provide an education for his daughters. He would bring books of African and Black American history for his daughters to read because a complete education was very important to him and his wife. At that time he and his wife, a former college biology professor, informed their daughters that they would attend college. As a result of his hard work and true partnership with his wife, his oldest of five daughters is a medical doctor, the second is a college president, the third daughter is a Wharton graduate and entrepreneur, the fourth is an attorney, and the fifth is an electrical engineer and entrepreneur.  His and his wife’s values continue as his grandson graduated from Howard University and is working as a mechanical engineer with the US Navy and his granddaughter is currently attending college.
The 97 year old patriarch of the Giles family, entered into eternal rest Thursday, April 26, 2018.His precious memories will forever be cherished in the hearts: daughters, Dr. Barbara Douglas, Dr. Helen Giles-Gee, DeBorah Giles, Susan Giles, Esquire and Veronica Giles;  grandchildren, Ian Douglas, Jr. and Lauren Gee; nephew, James Giles, Jr.; son-in-law, Ian Douglas, Sr.; and so many other relatives and friends.