Pastor Gregory K. McLeod and the Men’s Ministry of Brookins Community A.M.E. Church in Los Angeles named Brad Pye, Jr., as its 2013 Man of the Year.
A Brookins member for more than 20 years, Pye serves on the Board of Trustees and participates in the Media Ministry. He also volunteers on several auxiliaries of the church.
“I am pleasantly surprised. I had no idea I was being honored. The things you do for others turn strangers into brothers,” said Pye.
Professionally, Pye is renowned for his trailblazing news writing and broadcasting about the world of sports, especially his tireless efforts to publicize African American athletes. He previously served as sports editor for the L.A. Sentinel and currently writes a sports column in the Inland Valley News newspaper.
Pye was also the first Black administrator in the old American Football League, the first Black president of the city’s Recreation & Parks Commission and the first black president of the Coliseum Commission.
He served many years as top deputy to L.A. County Supervisor Kenny Hahn as well worked briefly for Supervisor Yvonne Burke. In 2011, Pye retired from the County of Los Angeles as a Division Chief after 24 years of service.
