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The Champion, Thursday, December 17 - 23,2015
LOCAL
From left, Eston Hood, the former COO of the Metro Atlanta YMCA, is joined during his retirement partner by
Thurbert Baker, the state’s former attorney general. Photos by Andrew Cauthen
From left, Chris Morris, DeKalb’s former community development director, and Dr. Barbara Hill, of Clark Atlanta
University, praise Hood’s legacy.
Retired YMCA leader honored
by Andrew Cauthen
andre w@dekalb champ, com
Family members, friends, community
leaders and former coworkers gathered Dec.
8 at Smokerise Country Club in Stone Moun
tain to honor Eston Hood, who recently re
tired after 36 years with the YMCA of Metro
Atlanta.
From 2009 to 2015 Hood was the
YMCA’s chief operating officer. Hood, an At
lanta native, joined the Metro Atlanta YMCA
family in 1979 as senior program director
for the Southwest Family YMCA. Hood later
served as executive director, district execu
tive director, vice president, vice president of
operations and senior vice president of oper
ations, in addition to chief operating officer.
Chris Morris, DeKalb County’s former
community development director, recalled
Hood’s work in the early 1980s when the
metropolitan Atlanta area was plagued by the
missing and murdered children crisis when
at least 28 Black children, adolescents and
adults were killed.
“Eston had a vision. And when you have
people in leadership positions that really care
about the community, when you have a crisis
like that, God places something in your heart
that goes into action,” Morris said.
“Eston’s vision was to create [for chil
dren] the opportunity to be safe when they
leave school and parents are working,” Mor
ris said. Hood’s vision led to the creation of
early childhood centers.
Thurbert Baker, former Georgia at
torney general, said, “We are here to lift up
and to talk about not only a good man, but a
great man.
“If you ask Eston what this event is all
about, the first thing he would say is that
‘This is about my family, this is about the
people who helped me get where I am to
day,”’ Baker said.
“I have never seen an individual.. .more
committed to what he was engaged in than
Eston Hood,” Baker said. “Those individu
als are rare. Some days you have good days
and some days you have bad days, but I have
never seen anyone any more committed who
worked tirelessly in the vineyards of life try
ing to make sure that things are going to be
better tomorrow for the kids he didn’t even
know today. He understood the big picture.”
Hood worked with the YMCA for more than 35 years.
More than 100 friends and family attended Hood’s retirement party.