Brenda Joyce Washington, a local community activist who was instrumental in creating and organizing the first Juneteenth Parade and Celebration in Katy, has died. She passed away on October 18, 2024.

Born June 26, 1958, to Booker T. and Ruthie Washington, Washington graduated from Katy ISD in 1977 and furthered her education at Houston Community College and later Wharton Junior College. She married Walter Wigfall and had one son, Walter Washington Wigfall.

In 1999 she moved to San Francisco where she was employed by San Francisco Community Convalescent Hospital was Executive Board Vice President of SEIU United Healthcare Workers West. She returned to Katy and later founded The Katy Texas African American Heritage Society in April 2022, according to previous reporting in the Katy Times. She helped organize celebrations for Kwanza as well as Juneteenth. A frequent attendee of City of Katy council meetings, Washington ran unsuccessfully for city council herself but continued to speak out on behalf of Katy’s historically black Danover community. She was also active in the Antioch Baptist Church.

Washington is survived by mother Ruthie Washington, sister Beverlen Washington, brother Zenora Washington, companion Desmond Noel, sister-in-law Brenda Washington and a large extended family. She was preceded in death by her grandparents James and Minola Washington and Samuel and Ora McNeal, father Booker T. Washington, sister Kathryn Harmon, brother Kimbly Washington and son Walter Washington Wigfall.

A homegoing celebration was held on November 2, 2024, at Westland Baptist Church, 1407 West Grand Parkway South in Katy, under the direction of Lakeside Mortuary of Eagle Lake.