CHARLESTON — The Knights of Peter Claver St. Peter Council 110 held a banquet Nov. 5 to recognize two of its members, Knight Samuel L. Jenkins and Lady Annabelle B. Seabrook.
Jenkins and Seabrook were honored for their contributions to St. Patrick and Our Lady of Mercy churches and the community, and for helping youth become productive citizens.
Jenkins is a member of St. Patrick Church. He has served as president of the parish council, member of the choir, altar boy director, deputy Grand Knight, Grand Knight, and extraordinary minister of the Eucharist.
Jenkins’ community involvement includes positions as community school director at James Island High School, area director of the Council on Physical Fitness, past president of S.C. Athletic Coaches Association, past president of S.C. Basketball Coaches Association, legislative delegate to National High School Rules Change, member of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce, and member of the NAACP.
His awards include Bamberg County vocational teacher of the year, Charleston County teacher of the year in District 3, regional coach of the year, and head coach for the South Carolina all-star basketball team, to name a few.
He is married to Louise S. Jenkins, and they have three children.
Seabrook, a graduate of the Medical University of South Carolina College of Nursing, is a member of Our Lady of Mercy and the Knights of Peter Claver Ladies Auxiliary, Our Lady of Guadalupe Court 110.
She has served on the YWCA board of directors and the United Negro College Fund Committee. She has been co-coordinator of the MOJA Arts Festival Historic Sites Committee, chair of the festival’s jazz series, and a board member of Art Forms and Theater Concepts. She is a member of the National Council of Negro Women and is a mentor at Sanders-Clyde Elementary School with the “Helping One Student to Succeed” program.
She has received a service award and the Tribute to Women in Industry Award from the YWCA.
Seabrook has served as Grand Lady and vice Grand Lady of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Court 110. She chaired the mentoring program at Jenkins Orphanage, has served as a lector, is an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, and serves on the pastoral council. She represented the parish at the Synod of Charleston. Seabrook is a group leader for Disciples in Mission, volunteers at Interfaith Crisis Ministries Shelters, serves on the board of directors for Charleston Catholic School, is a member of the S.C. Council of Catholic Women and is a member of Our Lady of Mercy Women’s Guild.
She is married to Irvin Seabrook and is the mother of eight children.
The awards banquet was held at St. Patrick Church hall. Cheryl Simmons and Denise DeVeaux presented tributes to Seabrook, and Rhonda Deleston and Nathaniel Jenkins paid tribute to Jenkins. Supreme Knight Arthur McFarland led the evening, and Father Peter Kulandai gave the invocation.
The Knights of Peter Claver were founded in 1909 in honor of St. Peter Claver, born in Spain in 1581. He was a Jesuit priest who devoted his life to caring for Africans who were sold into slavery. In his 40 years of ministering in Colombia, South America, a port that was part of the “Middle Passage,” he is said to have baptized more than 300,000 people.
He fought for enforcement of the law providing for the Christian marriage of the slaves and forbidding the separation of families. He continued to follow the slaves he ministered to, conducting missions and preaching in the streets, hearing confessions for hours.
He died in 1654, and Pope Leo XIII declared him a saint in 1888.
The order was chartered in Mobile, Ala., on July 12, 1911, and is now headquartered in New Orleans. The Knights of Peter Claver Ladies Auxiliary was authorized in Opelousas, La., in August 1922.