Abon and Ruby Bridges

Abon Bridges's parents were Ezell Bridges (1919 - 1998) and Beatrice Coward (born 1912). Both of his parents were born in Mississippi. He had six siblings: five brothers, including Matthew Bridges, (1935 - 2006) and one sister. Abon also had two half-sisters. Abon Briges married Lucille Commodore. also spelled Commadore, (1934 - 2020) in 1953 and they separated in the late 1960s. They had 8 children including Ruby, Malcolm, Jonah, Milton, and Michelle. A veteran, Abon served in the United States Army during the Korean Conflict and earned a Purple Heart. When they lived in Mississippi, Abon and his wife, Lucille, were sharecroppers. When they moved to New Orleans, in order to seek better jobs and a better education for their children, Abon became a gas station attendant. Later, his daughter Ruby said that he was a mechanic. According to Ruby's obituary, "she became the first Black student at her New Orleans elementary school." Such a simple sentence that contains so much history: Ruby Bridges went on to become an icon of the civil rights movement. New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell said Ruby's father, Abon Bridges, was reluctant to send his daughter to the all-white William Frantz Elementary School as a first grader in 1960, at the request of the NAACP. But his wife insisted, wanting their daughter to have the education she (the mother) never did." Mother Lucille attended class every day for a year in order to protect Ruby and since all of the Caucasian students in her class were pulled out by their parents and Ruby was the only student remaining. What parents do for their children! See the iconic painting of Ruby's first day of school at Abon Bridges wife and child. Also read a moving article about Ruby's first day of school at Ruby Bridges First Day of School Changed History. The family had moved to New Orleans in search of better work and educational opportunities. An article about the turmoil of the times and the Bridges' family can be found at Ruby Bridges First Day of School Changed History