Former US president Barack Obama is mourning Dexter Scott King, the younger son of renowned civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr, who passed on Monday at age 62.
In his condolence message, Obama said he was saddened to hear of the death of a man who had dedicated his life to protecting the legacy of his parents.
“Michelle and I were saddened to hear about the passing of Dexter… As chairman of The King Center, he inspired a new generation to continue their work for justice and equality,” he said.
“Our thoughts are with his wife Leah and the entire King family."
Dexter died of prostate cancer at his home in Malibu, California.
His wife, Leah Weber King, said in a statement that he died “peacefully in his sleep.”
Dexter was the third of the Kings’ four children and named for the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
This is where his father served as a pastor when the Montgomery bus boycott thrust him to national prominence in the wake of the 1955 arrest of Rosa Parks.
He was just seven years old when his father was assassinated in April 1968 while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee.
As an adult, Dexter bore such a striking resemblance to his famous father that he was cast to portray him in a 2002 TV movie about Parks starring Angela Bassett.
He also worked to protect the King family’s intellectual property. In addition to serving as chairman of the King Center, he was also president of the King estate, AP reports.
The later Dexter is survived by his wife as well as his older brother, Martin Luther King III; his younger sister, the Rev. Bernice A. King; and a teenage niece, Yolanda Renee King.
Their mother, Coretta Scott King died in 2006, followed by the Kings’ oldest child, Yolanda Denise King, in 2007.
