Robert L. Terrell III ’74 died on January 29, 2025, in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

(The following was provided by Davis Funeral Home on January 29, 2025:)

Robert L. Terrell III ’74

Robert L. Terrell, III, 73, of Roxbury, MA, departed this life on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. Bob (as he was called by family and friends) was born on June 12, 1951, in the South End of Boston, MA, to Robert L. Terrell, II and Mildred A. Terrell.

Bob graduated from Boston Latin School and earned a BA in Government and Sociology, with a minor in History, from Bowdoin College. Later in life he studied at Tufts University, earning a master’s degree in Public Policy, and was a part-time lecturer in the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts.

His last position before his passing was his appointment by Mayor Michelle Wu as Executive Director of Boston’s Office of Fair Housing and Equity. This was a fitting culmination to Robert’s decades long passion and commitment to fighting discrimination in housing and transportation in Boston and ensuring equitable access to both.

Prior to this, Bob served as the Fair Housing, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for the Boston Housing Authority’s Office of Civil Rights. In this position he helped develop the BHA’s Racial Equity and Social Justice Initiative. He also supported their Expanding Choice in Housing Opportunities Program that created a framework which is central to how Boston removes barriers to fair housing today. In 2020, Bob was the architect of the first-in-the-nation fair housing zoning ordinance in the City of Boston.

Bob’s care and concern for his community was demonstrated in the numerous leadership positions he held in local organizations. The Roxbury Neighborhood Council (formerly the Greater Roxbury Neighborhood Authority), the Madison Park Development Corporation Board of Directors, the Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), Action for Equity’s Housing Committee, Executive Director/Chairman of the Washington Street Corridor Coalition, MBTA Riders Oversight Committee, and the Boston Branch of the NAACP are just a few.

Bob’s passion for public service was inspired by his mother, Mildred, and he focused his work in the areas of the environment, housing, and transportation. He viewed his civil rights and fair housing work as a “sacred trust.” This showed in the quality of his work, and the residents of the City of Boston have benefited immensely from his dedication.

The awards and honors he has received for his exemplary service are too numerous to list. A few recent ones include CHAPA’s 2021 annual Public Policy Award for the member who represents leadership in ending housing discrimination and ensuring people have meaningful choice in where they live. In 2023 Bob was the recipient of Tufts’ Graduate Alumni Outstanding Career Achievement Award.

Bob was an avid reader of books and newspapers, often traveling to Harvard Square’s Out of Town News to get the Financial Times. He loved jazz, especially great artists such as Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis.

Bob had a heart for people, and he would go out of his way to lend a hand. He will live on in the multitude of people he has helped, counseled, mentored, supported, and invested himself in over his seven decades of life. That Bob will be missed couldn’t be more of an understatement.

In addition to a host of friends, colleagues and a grateful community Robert leaves to cherish his memory the family he acquired in later life; his “mom,” Roberta Hoke of Boston, MA; three sisters, Roxanne Hoke-Chandler, of Boston, MA, Michelle Da Silva of Stoughton, MA, and Robyn Franklin-Vaughn, of Bowie, MD; brothers-in-law, Raymond Franklin-Vaughn of Bowie, MD, and Roderick Brathwaite of Boston, MA, and Silvonei DaSilva of Stoughton, MA; two nieces, Faith and Ebony Joy Chandler of Boston, MA; a nephew, Michael Nelson DaSilva of Stoughton, MA, and a host of others with whom he shared a familial bond. His memory is also cherished by our great city and the indelible mark he has left on it.

To learn more about Bob’s legacy please see below: https://www.boston.gov/departments/fair-housing-and-equity/robert-terrell https://baystatebanner.com/2015/04/29/activists-call-for-revival-of-roxbury-neighborhood-council/

https://www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2023/02/tufts-faculty-member-appointed-executive-director-of-boston-office-of-fair-housing-and-policy
https://www.bostonhousing.org/en/News/BHA-Equity-and-Inclusion-Officer-Robert-Terrell-re.aspx