John Amara Walters

John Amara F. Walters The Universal Man – Beloved Son, Brother, Nephew, Cousin and Confidante to Many Sunrise- February 9, 1992; Sunset – October 2, 2021 John Amara Walters, age 29 of Adrian and Washington, D.C. passed away Saturday morning October 2, 2021 in his mother’s arms at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. John Amara was born February 9, 1992, in Adrian, Michigan to John A.M. Walters and Kimberley H. Davis Walters. A graduate of Adrian High School Class of 2010, John Amara went on to Howard University in Washington, DC graduating magna cum laude in 2015 with Psychology Major and Political Science Minor. John Amara was the nonpareil/incomparable “Universal Man” because so many felt he was their own son, brother, nephew, or cousin. He was more than well-loved and discerningly loved the hundreds of people he came in close contact with, worked tirelessly with alongside. While still a student at Howard, he was a member of the Michigan Club of Howard University and interned for then U.S. Congressman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. Upon graduation from Howard, he immediately became a highly talented, effective, and beloved Legislative Aide to then United States Congressman and now Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland where John directed the Senator’s correspondence program and was subject matter expert for the Senator on the issues of Judiciary Nominations, Criminal Justice Reform, Gun Safety, Telecommunications and Digital Inclusion & Equity, Election Security, Consumer Protection (FTC), Consumer Safety, Labor, The U.S. Post Office, and Federal Employees. John Amara fought and lived for social betterment with substantive impact from the time he was a child. John Amara was supremely devoted to his large close-knit family, extended family, friends and colleagues. He was universally known for his amazing warmth, devotion, love and lightening wit. John Amara was highly intelligent, strategic thinker and problem-solving - always with his unique laugh and smile. John was serious, focused and made his family and ancestors proud. He hails from a long line of female and male business and social entrepreneurs, multi-professionals, nurses, teachers, community leaders, Tuskegee Airman grandfather, founders of towns in Texas and Arkansas as well as the current and historical male and female Sierra Leone traditional rulers/leaders of the Mofindor sub-chiefdom with seat at Monongoh and the Banda Chiefdom who were/are rulers of the Mende Sherbro peoples. At six-years-old John Amara began working on local, state and national political and three presidential campaigns and community service every year stretching from Adrian, MI, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Lansing, Brooklyn, NY and Washington, DC. He was like a grandson to Rosa Parks as he participated in the Rosa & Raymond Parks Institute Pathways to Freedom Program with his sister from the time he was seven-years-old and grew to the age of traveling on Mother Parks program as a teenager. He was an intern for Senator Carl Levin while a sophomore in high school and in his junior year of high school attended and graduated from the Georgetown University Junior Statesman of America program in Washington, DC. He is survived by his mother Kimberley of Northville, Michigan he is preceded in death by his father John (Mozambique) and his beloved sister Mariama F. Walters (Adrian). John Amara is survived by two half-brothers Basee and Eustace Walters of New York, a half-sister Nenneh Walters Springer of North Carolina, numerous aunts and uncles including, John (Carol) Davis, Sharon Davis, Gregory (Jacqui) Davis, Jeffrey (Kathy) Davis, Karen (Mel) Johnson, numerous close first cousins, 2nd cousins, great-aunts/uncles and extended family numbering in the 100’s. John Amara was preceded in death by his grandparents, Jessie and Herbert Davis of Adrian and Ernest and Mariama Walters of Freetown, Sierra Leone (West Africa). Funeral Services for John Amara will be held on Saturday, October 16, 2021 at 12 PM at the family farm, located at Stone Wood Place, 3748 Black Hwy, Adrian, MI. Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery in Adrian, MI. Public visitation will take place on Friday, October 15, 2021 from 6 to 8 PM at Wagley Funeral Home, Adrian, MI. Memorial contributions in memory of John Amara Walters may be made to Howard University www.givinghoward.edu or to Sickle Cell Disease patient care and research at Medstar Washington Hospital Center, designate “other” and Dr. Hedy Smith/Sickle Cell Clinic Hematology/Oncology. In Tribute Information select Tribute Type and My gift is a tribute to John Amara Walters at www.giving.medstarhealth.org/mwhcdonate. Envelopes will also be available at Wagley Funeral Home. Online condolences and memories may be shared at www.WagleyFuneralHomes.com.

John Amara Walters

February 9, 1992 - October 2, 2021