'We're carrying on dad's legacy but it's the end of an era': Family of Tuskegee Airman Theodore Lumpkin Jr, 100, reveals he's died of COVID-19

One of the famed Tuskegee Airmen - the first black pilots in the segregated U.S. military and among the most respected fighter pilots of World War II - has died from complications of the coronavirus, it was announced Friday.

Lumpkin, a native of Los Angeles, died of COVID-19 at home on December 26, just a few days shy of his 101st birthday.

His death was announced by his son, Ted Lumpkin III, who told the LA Times: ‘We’re carrying on his , but it’s the end of an era.’

Los Angeles City College, which Lumpkin attended from 1938 to 1940, also issued a statement memorializing his death.

‘The LACC Foundation is very sorry to hear about the passing of Ted Lumpkin, but we are so honored to have met and spent time with Ted during his visits to the campus,’ said Robert Schwartz, Executive Director, Los Angeles City College Foundation.

‘Ted Lumpkin represents the best of our distinguished alumni in his service to our country as a member of the groundbreaking Tuskegee Airmen and his other accomplishments during a long and highly productive life; he will be missed by all of us.’

Ted Lumpkin jr (above in 2008), a native of Los Angeles, died of COVID-19 at home on December 26, just a few days shy of his 101st birthday

Lumpkin (pictured sitting in 1945) was drafted in 1942 and assigned to the 100th Fighter Squadron in Tuskegee, Alabama

WHO WERE THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN?

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps , a precursor of the U.S. Air Force.  

Trained at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama, they flew more than 15,000 individual sorties in Europe and North Africa during World War II. 

Their impressive performance earned them more than 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, and helped encourage the eventual integration of the U.S. armed forces.

During World War II, black Americans in many U.S. states were still subject to the Jim Crow laws and the American military was racially segregated, as was much of the federal government. 

Lumpkin was drafted in 1942 and assigned to the 100th Fighter Squadron in Tuskegee, Alabama. The Tuskegee Airmen escorted bombers in Europe.

Lumpkin wasn't a pilot because his eyesight wasn't good enough, but he served as an intelligence officer who briefed pilots on missions, according to the Times.

During his tenure in the military, he earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in sociology from USC. He met his wife Georgia while he was a student and the pair were married soon after.

He later retired from the Air Force Reserves as a lieutenant colonel, and started a new era of his life working as a social worker for Los Angeles County.

In his later working years, he reshifted his career focus again, becoming a real estate broker and opening his own company.

Lumpkin’s wife, Georgia, told the Times that he didn’t talk much about his experiences with the airmen.

‘We were married for a number of years until I heard about them,’ she said. ‘When I realized who these guys were and what they’d done, I was just overcome at how much they persevered. They did not bow down. They achieved things that detractors said they couldn’t, weren’t capable of doing.’

Lumpkin (left in 2015) reportedly didn't like discussing much about his time in the military to family members

Following his death, now only eight of the original Tuskegee combat pilots and several support personnel are still alive. They are all in the 90s or older

Ted Lumpkin III said that when he was young he was watching a television show when the announcer introduced members of the Tuskegee Airmen.

‘Who the heck are these guys? Then, there’s my dad walking onstage,’ he said. ‘He never talked about it, but from there it took off like wildfire.’

In 2007, the Tuskegee Airmen were collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. He also was among the surviving airmen invited to attend the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009.

Following his death, now only eight of the original Tuskegee combat pilots and several support personnel are still alive. They are all in the 90s or older.

Lumpkin is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter, several grandchildren and a great-grandchild.