“Tell Them I Didn’t Take No Sh*t,”

Harry Cicero Alford Jr. — An Undefeatable Spirit

Is what dad told us days before he passed away from natural causes in his Washington, DC, home on December 6, 2021 (of course, Monday Night Football was playing on his TV). As his sons, we can certifiably say he didn’t take any sh*t! He continued to say, after a pause, “but tell them I was fair and strong.”

Dad was the son of a truck driver-turned farmer (Harry Cicero Sr.) and double amputee homemaker (Christine Brown). Born on Valentine’s Day in Oxnard, California, Harry spent his summers fishing and running down old dirt roads with his little brother, John Ray Alford, on the family farm near Haughton, Louisiana. When it was time for high school, Dad matriculated to Oxnard High School, making a name for himself as a Ventura County football star. He then enrolled at Ventura Community College and took his skills to the next level by playing and being known as a ferocious linebacker for the University of Wisconsin on an athletic scholarship. He would go on to graduate in 1970.

From there, dad earned top honors as Company Commander in the Army’s Officer Candidate School class (OC3–72). He was a wartime Veteran, serving during what the United States Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes as the Vietnam Era. As a Second Lieutenant in the US Army, our dad served honorably, taking on roles including Race Relations Instructor, Accountant, and Finance Disbursing Officer. He also received the National Defense Service Medal. Everywhere he went, he earned recognition for his accomplishments. He would later be inducted into his high school hall of fame in 2013 for what he did on the gridiron. These feats were no different in the business world, making his mark at the highest levels of private and public sectors.

Dad put his leadership skills to work in a series of key sales and executive positions at Fortune 100 companies such as Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, and the Sara Lee Corporation. Then, in 1989, dad began working as Deputy Commissioner for Minority Business Development for Indiana. It was during this brief tenure that he and his business…