Death of Bro. Hercules Joyner
 

Father of radio man Tom Joyner dead at 89

Hercules L. Joyner, 89, died Sunday in his Dallas home.

A native of Plant City, Fla., Joyner is the father of Tom Joyner, the
nationally syndicated radio personality, and Albert Joyner, owner of
McDonald's franchises in Jackson, Miss.

"I really appreciate all of the sympathy and prayers expressed by all
of my close friends and my listeners," Tom Joyner said. "Those that
ever had the pleasure of meeting Pops know what an inspiring life he
lived and what a proud man he always was. My family and I are
thankful for all of your prayers."

Known for his dry wit and gentle ways, "Pops," as he was
affectionately called by family and friends, graduated from Florida
A&M College with bachelor of science in chemistry. While at Florida
A&M, Joyner pledged the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and became an
avid golfer. In later years, "The Herc" Golf Tournament was named
after him.

After he enrolled in the program to become a Tuskegee Airman, he
decided to switch from a military career and instead became an
accountant, later spending much of his career working for the
Veteran's Administration Hospital in Tuskegee.

Joyner was the only child of Dr. Oscar Albert and Ruth Griffin Joyner
and married the late Frances Dumas, a graduate of Tennessee State
University.

To share his passion for black colleges, Joyner was an active member
of the Tom Joyner Foundation, created by his son in 1998 with the
sole mission to help keep students enrolled in historically black
colleges and universities.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to
the Tom Joyner Foundation, P.O. Box 630495, Irving, Texas 75063.

For additional information, contact Neil Foote, Tom Joyner Foundation

So that's where Tom is.

My condolences to the family.

I know - I caught a few minutes of it this morning and was listening to Sybil and the Tuesday dad (or whatever it's called) and was wondering where Tom was.

Sad to hear this. Condolences to Tom and the rest of the Joyner family. :( :(

Ditto.

Believe it or not, I heard the announcement while listening to Steve Harvey's morning show. RIP Mr. Herc.

I heard it on the show that morning Sybil and Jay were talking about it along with Myra, and also one of my friends was saying that they heard it on Steve Harvey's show as well. Tom sounded good when he came back after the funeral and he said that he needed to get back and "Pop" would have wanted him to. I think he said that he was out for 3 weeks when his mom died in '89, and he found that it was just better to get back to work after his father died. Pops Joyner would go on the Tom Joyner cruise each year oxygen and all.