DATE: Tuesday, July 29, 1997                TAG: 9707290176

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B6   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   70 lines

J. HUGO MADISON

J. Hugo Madison

VIRGINIA BEACH - Facing the end with the same determination and dignity by which he lived, attorney James Hugo Madison departed the life Saturday, July 26, 1997, at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

A native of Dinwiddie County, Va., he was born May 1, 1921, the youngest of five children of John Henry and Lelia James Madison. He moved to Norfolk at an early age and attended Norfolk Public Schools, graduating from Booker T. Washington High School, Class of 1939.

J. Hugo matriculated at Norfolk Division of Virginia State College (now Norfolk State University); graduated from Howard University, Washington, D.C.; and received his J.D. degree from Brooklyn Law School, Brooklyn, N.Y. He was admitted to the Virginia State Bar Association prior to his graduation. He served with distinction in the U.S. Army, receiving an honorable discharge in 1945.

J. Hugo began his legal career on Church Street - being, at the time, the youngest of only a handful of black lawyers in Hampton Roads. For more than a year, he supplemented his fledgling practice by waiting tables at the Old Cavalier Hotel, Virginia Beach. Starting in the general practice of law and specializing in criminal law, he was led by the tenor of the times to civil rights litigation. Among other causes, he held the torch for the reopening of Seashore State Park, which had been closed for 12 years, and for the desegregation of the Norfolk Public Schools in the late 1950s.

Among his many legal achievements, Mr. Madison was the first black commissioner in chancery for the Circuit Court, Norfolk (1951). He served as divorce commissioner for the Circuit Court, Virginia Beach (1972). Additionally, he was a member of the Legal Defense Fund for the NAACP. During the civil rights fight in 1952, he had the distinction of being called before the infamous Boatwright Committee, a special committee set up by the General Assembly to investigate racial organizations.

In addition to his successful legal career, J. Hugo contributed to several local and national civic, legal and social organizations, including the United Way (co-chair); Board of Visitors, Norfolk State University from 1969-77 (rector for one term), current member, (second appointment); Boy Scouts of America; grand commissioner of education, I.B.P.O.E. of America; Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity; Hunton YMCA (past president); NAACP (life member); National Republican Party; and the Virginia, National, Old Dominion and South Hampton Roads bar associations.

Mr. Madison served on the board of directors of the Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention. He received the Brotherhood Award, National Conference of Christian and Jews, 1973. He was appointed by Gov. Mills E. Godwin for two terms on the Southern Regional Education Board. He was an attorney (retired) with Robinson, Madison, Fulton and Associates. He joined the First Baptist Church, Bute Street, at an early age, where he served with distinction as the chair of the Board of Trustees.

He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Viola Madison; his children, James Hugo Madison Jr., Patricia Madison Boone and her husband, Derrick, and Paula Madison Lundy and her husband, Jeffrey; his grandchildren, Derrick S. Boone Jr., Lindsey Marie Madison, Aubrey Madison, Spencer Nicole Lundy and Madeline Faith Boone. In addition to his immediate family, he leaves three sisters, Zenolia Madison of Los Angeles, Etta Clannagan of Norfolk and Della Carpenter of Washington, D.C. He leaves to mourn a host of nieces, nephews and friends.

Though we mourn his passing, James Hugo Madison's life remains as a shining example, his gentlemanly demeanor, his Christian charity and his compassion for his fellow man.

A funeral service will be held at First Baptist Church Bute Street on Wednesday, July 30, 1997, at 1 p.m. A Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity memorial service is planned at Hale Funeral Home in Norfolk at 7 p.m. today. Burial will be in Woodlawn Memorial Gardens. This service is open to the public. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to J. Hugo Madison Scholarship Fund, Norfolk State Foundation. ILLUSTRATION: Photo KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu