Robert Cummings Sr., a retired W. R. Grace employee and the father of U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, died Sunday of a heart attack while on a church-sponsored visit to the Women's Prison in Jessup. He was 74 and lived in Edmondson Village.
Mr. Cummings worked as a laborer for 42 years with W. R. Grace before retiring in 1989. The son of sharecroppers, he was born in Manning, S.C., and often worked in the fields as a young man. When farm work needed to be done, he was taken out of school.
"My father was a great inspiration to me," said Mr. Cummings, who represents the 7th District. "He taught us nothing was impossible, despite his limited education. He spent his life believing in education and emphasized that we had to be in school every day."
Mr. Cummings said his father was also a deeply religious man who often gathered his family around him to say the Lord's Prayer or the 23rd Psalm.
Mr. Cummings worked as a laborer for 42 years with W. R. Grace before retiring in 1989. The son of sharecroppers, he was born in Manning, S.C., and often worked in the fields as a young man. When farm work needed to be done, he was taken out of school.
"My father was a great inspiration to me," said Mr. Cummings, who represents the 7th District. "He taught us nothing was impossible, despite his limited education. He spent his life believing in education and emphasized that we had to be in school every day."
Mr. Cummings said his father was also a deeply religious man who often gathered his family around him to say the Lord's Prayer or the 23rd Psalm.
Robert Cummings Sr., a retired W. R. Grace employee and the father of U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, died Sunday of a heart attack while on a church-sponsored visit to the Women's Prison in Jessup. He was 74 and lived in Edmondson Village.
Mr. Cummings worked as a laborer for 42 years with W. R. Grace before retiring in 1989. The son of sharecroppers, he was born in Manning, S.C., and often worked in the fields as a young man. When farm work needed to be done, he was taken out of school.
"My father was a great inspiration to me," said Mr. Cummings, who represents the 7th District. "He taught us nothing was impossible, despite his limited education. He spent his life believing in education and emphasized that we had to be in school every day."
Mr. Cummings said his father was also a deeply religious man who often gathered his family around him to say the Lord's Prayer or the 23rd Psalm.
Mr. Cummings worked as a laborer for 42 years with W. R. Grace before retiring in 1989. The son of sharecroppers, he was born in Manning, S.C., and often worked in the fields as a young man. When farm work needed to be done, he was taken out of school.
"My father was a great inspiration to me," said Mr. Cummings, who represents the 7th District. "He taught us nothing was impossible, despite his limited education. He spent his life believing in education and emphasized that we had to be in school every day."
Mr. Cummings said his father was also a deeply religious man who often gathered his family around him to say the Lord's Prayer or the 23rd Psalm.
