Raymond V. Haysbert

Raymond V. Haysbert Sr. (January 19, 1920 – May 24, 2010) was an American business executive and civil rights leader during the second half of the 20th century in Baltimore, Maryland. During World War II, he served in Africa and Italy with the renowned Tuskegee Airmen. Haysbert joined Baltimore-based Parks Sausage Company in 1952, becoming CEO as it grew into one of the largest black-owned U.S. businesses. In later years, he was active in politics and the American civil rights movement. Haysbert was chairman of the Greater Baltimore Urban League when he died at age 90 in 2010.

Early life Haysbert was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1920 into a poor family. After working for a coal company, he earned a degree in accounting at Wilberforce University. Following the outbreak of World War II, Haysbert joined the acclaimed Tuskegee Airmen, the first all-black fighter squadron, in Italy and Africa. After the war, he taught at Wilberforce University.

Business leader In 1952, Haysbert moved from Wilberforce to Baltimore when he was recruited by Henry G. Parks Jr., founder of the sausage company there bearing his name, to serve as accountant and office manager. Haysbert was subsequently promoted to general manager, then executive vice president, before being named president and CEO of Parks Sausage Company. In 1991, he was named National Minority Entrepreneur of the Year, as Parks Sausage grew into a $26 million company employing 240 workers.

Civic activities During the time of civil rights activism beginning in the early 1960s, Haysbert worked to elect black politicians, including Harry Cole as Maryland's first African-American state senator.

Of his many organizational memberships, Haysbert was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, having been initiated at Wilberforce University (Xi chapter) on April 13, 1950 and was a member of Baltimore's Delta Lambda chapter until his death.

He told a newspaper interviewer in 1992 that, although he "started in the ghetto, black, poor, on welfare ... in America, it's still possible for him to succeed, without a government subsidy." The Raymond V. Haysbert Research Center at Coppin State University, an applied research facility, was instituted and named in his honor in 2004.

Death When Haysbert died of heart failure in Baltimore on May 24, 2010, he was called an "elder statesman of Maryland's African-American business community" by the Baltimore Sun and lauded as a "courageous American hero" by the president of the Baltimore City Council. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Haysbert, "used his success and status in the community to help dozens if not hundreds of other minority-owned businesses start and thrive in Baltimore". He was survived by his wife, Carol, and four children.