ATLANTA — Juanita Abernathy, the Civil Rights "foot soldier" and wife of the late Ralph David Abernathy, was remembered with a celebration of life on Monday.
The service was held at Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta, starting at noon.
Abernathy passed away at the age of 88 earlier this month.
She was dubbed a "foot soldier" of the Civil Rights Movement who participated in "all of the pivotal protests of the era."
Among her actions, Abernathy helped rally the black community in Montgomery, Alabama, as her husband and Martin Luther King Jr. led the Montgomery Bus Boycott between 1955 and 1956.
She continued her activism upon moving to Atlanta in 1961, where she worked to spur school desegregation in the city by enrolling her child in independent white schools. She also accompanied her husband to the 1963 March on Washington and walked on the "frontlines of the Selma to Montgomery March" in 1965.
She spent her later years traveling and speaking of her experiences and urging the nation to continue the fight for justice and equality.
Abernathy also served on the Board of Trustees for the Morehouse School of Religion and was on the board of directors for MARTA and the Atlanta-Fulton County League of Women Voters.
A family spokesperson said she died at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta following complications from a stroke.
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for contributions to be made to the Juanita and Ralph David Abernathy Foundation.
Other commemorations included a visitation on Sunday, and a private internment well be held on Tuesday at Lincoln Cemetery.