Goodbye ‘Bo-legs’
Atlanta Native Marvin S. Arrington, Sr. Laid to Rest
February 10, 1941 – July 5, 2023
Political, social, fraternal, athletic and just plain regular folks congregated Friday, July 28th at historic Ebenezer Baptist Church to bid a final farewell to Atlanta native Marvin Stephens Arrington, Sr.
“It has been said that great leaders don’t mind getting their hands dirty,” said Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens. “Marvin embodied that spirit. He came straight from the neighborhood.”
Arrington was born in the city’s Grady-Graves Public Housing community near downtown. His family soon moved to the city’s westside community just on the outskirts of Vine City Arrington attended AF Herndon Elementary, then Henry McNeal Turner High where he excelled in both football and tennis. With help from his high school football coaches Raymond “Tweet” Williams (who is said to have pinned the nickname Bo legs on him) and “Judo” Brown, Arrington matriculated to Clark College (now Clark-Atlanta University) in 1959, became a two-way player on the Panther football team and graduated in 1964. He also became part of the Atlanta student movement for civil rights. That involvement led to his decision to become an attorney. After a year at Howard University’s school of law, he transferred to Atlanta’s Emory University in 1965 and became its first black full-time law student. “I remember he drove to Emory in his mother’s car,” eulogized Lindsay Street Baptist Church pastor Anthony W. Motley, the church Arrington grew up in . “Marvin took the talents God gave him and set out with a purpose to make a difference-and not just for a dollar. He wanted to give something back.”
“Bold, brash and blunt” was one way James Felder, a former Clark classmate and teammate described “Bo.” “I remember when he gave me a flyer he had created announcing his run for the Atlanta board of Alderman in 1969, said Felder. “He won that race and it inspired myself and others to seek public office in South Carolina (one of those men he inspired was James Clyburn, currently serving in Congress representing South Carolina’s 6th district).
“What do you say about a man who taught me the difference between being an employee versus an employer,” said Bo’s namesake son Marvin Jr., currently serving on the Fulton County Commission. “ What do you say about a man who served the city of Atlanta and its residents for 28 years and the county as a Superior Court judge for 10 years? I’ll have to thank God. Thank you for Marvin Stephens Arrington, Sr.”
On the afternoon of July 28th, Marvin was buried at Greenwood Cemetery on Cascade Road in southwest Atlanta.
Last updated on July 30, 2023
