‘A man full of wisdom’: Eldest Jarvis brother dies at 95

Ulysses Jarvis Jr., 95, passed away on Wednesday.

Jarvis was a member of the renowned Jarvis Brothers Quintet alongside his younger brothers, Reginald, Anthony, Donald and Rogers. They were known for their unique four- and five-part Jubilee-style harmony.

He was the eldest of the six children born to the late Ulysses S. Jarvis Sr. and the late Anna Gadsden Jarvis.

Anthony remembered his brother as a caring person who loved life and singing.

“He obviously was the oldest, and he took care of us when we were kids. He really loved life. He liked going. He enjoyed singing with us. He was the mouthpiece of the Jarvis Quintet,” he said.

Anthony continued, “He enjoyed singing with his brothers, and he did a lot to kind of keep us going and be encouraging and so forth. Of course, it wasn’t all sunshine. Brothers are brothers. They argue like anybody else.”

“All in all, it was a good run, and he always thought that he had to kind of take care of us because that’s what he’s been doing all his life,” he said.

The Jarvis Brothers performed in Washington, D.C. at The Smithsonian Institution, in New York at the Apollo Theater and before Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.

They also represented the State of South Carolina in the Millennium Stage Series at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.

The group received South Carolina’s highest honor for the arts, the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Governor’s Awards for the Arts, in 2005.

“We’re going to miss him,” said Anthony, who, along with his brother and sister, Rogers and Priscilla, are the only living siblings.

“We had some super parents. They were hard, but it was fair, I guess. If you came up in their house, you were expected to do some things, and that was it. It wasn’t no question. You knew what you had to do,” Anthony said.

He said the family celebrated Ulysses’ 95th birthday with a party.

“We gave him a little party. He came and was walking and talking to people. … I don’t know anybody that enjoyed life more than he did. He loved to go. I don’t care where the going was, if you said, ‘Go,’ he was ready to go,” Anthony said.

“He loved jazz. He taught us how to listen to jazz, and I’m thankful for that because I couldn’t stand jazz as a kid. But when we grew up, he taught us how to listen to jazz and how to appreciate it. He played drums, too,” he said. Ulysses was one of the first drummers at Wilkinson High School.

Wilkinson High School was the first high school that was built in Orangeburg for the education of Black students.

The first facility was built on Goff Avenue before a second school was built on Belleville Road.

Ulysses was a 1947 graduate of Wilkinson High School and served on the committee to have historical markers placed at the Wilkinson High sites in Orangeburg.

He was also a 1957 graduate of then South Carolina State College and a U.S. Air Force veteran.

Ulysses was also a master carpenter and educator.

He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8166 in Orangeburg and was also involved in the athletic programs that the City of Orangeburg had provided for the community’s Black youth. He, for example, supervised the baseball league that operated at the Peasley Street Playground.

The Jarvis Brothers went on to be honored for their community service in June 2005 when the group was selected by Orangeburg City Council to receive the Edisto Award for community service.

Orangeburg City Councilwoman Liz Zimmerman Keitt said Ulysses will be missed.

“It’s a great loss to the community because he was so involved with the community, South Carolina State University and Claflin University. He taught in so many places, and he was just a staunch supporter of the community. It is a great loss to us,” Zimmerman Keitt said.

“We are praying for the family as we pray for every family that is losing someone,” she said, noting that the music that the Jarvis Brothers shared with the world was meaningful and uplifting.

“The voices of the Jarvis Brothers mean so much to us. It really encourages our hearts and reminds us to keep going,” she said.

Ulysses served in many capacities over his long life, including on the Committee on Employment that was sponsored by the White House Conference on Childhood and Youth.

He taught social science at the Bennett Avenue campus of Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School and was also an instructor in the Department of Education and Psychology at the then Claflin College.

He served as the dean of students for the Denmark Technical Education Center, principal of Harleyville-Ridgeville High School in Dorchester County and assistant principal at Edisto Middle School.

He was a former vice president of the Orangeburg Sickle Cell Council and an advisor to the South Carolina Human Relations Commission for the Bicentennial. Ulysses was also a member of the NAACP, the Orangeburg County Teachers Association, the South Carolina Teachers Association and numerous other organizations.

The Rev. Eddie Williams, pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Orangeburg, where Ulysses attended church, remembered him fondly.

“He was a man full of wisdom over the years. He was one who truly showed his love for God, church, family and, without a doubt, singing,” Williams said.

“One of the things I enjoyed about being around him was the way in which he drew you into him. I first met him as a pastor over at North Orangeburg United Methodist Church. … He was a good encourager. As I came to become his pastor, the friendship just blossomed,” the pastor said.

He said Ulysses would drive him all around Orangeburg, giving him a history lesson along the way.

“Even though I was at North Orangeburg (UMC) for several years, he gave me certain names of areas that I had never heard of. … He gave me the history of Treadwell Street and who used to live here and there,” Williams said.

“He will be missed. He always told me, ‘You don’t have to come over here just because you heard I’m sick. You can come over here just to come by.’ He said, ‘My door is always open.’ That meant something,” he said, noting that Ulysses also loved S.C. State University.

“He had a love for S.C. State and showed it. You can’t say anything about him if you don’t talk about his love for S.C. State and wanting to see his school thrive,” said Williams, who said he also shared Ulysses’ love of music.

“That sparked a whole other conversation,” he said, laughing.

Anthony said he enjoyed the “great run” he and his brothers, including Ulysses, shared over the years.

“It was really a great run singing with your brothers like that. That was something. Our parents were right there supporting us all the way. You can’t ask for much more. They worked hard. Everybody was able to go to school and finish,” he said.