Former principal of DuSable High Charles Mingo dies
February 7, 2012 12:42AM
DuSable Principal Dr. Charles Mingo, who was on his way to bury a senior who committed suicicde December 16, 1997. | Brian Jackson~Sun-Times 97-12-348
Updated: March 8, 2012 8:17AM
Charles E. Mingo was a nationally recognized educator who stood by his teachers and stood for no nonsense in his classrooms.
“I have a very harsh penalty for fighting,” Mr. Mingo said in 1993, after winning a Milken National Educator Award for his work as principal at DuSable High School in the shadow of the former Robert Taylor Homes. “Hats, sunglasses, earrings come off at the door. I let teachers know they have to be in charge of their classes at all times, and I will back them up. Anybody who cannot abide by the rules, I put them out.”
Mr. Mingo, who devoted more than 40 years of his life to education, died Feb. 2, his family said. He was 70.
Born in McComb, Miss., Mr. Mingo moved with his family to Chicago when he was a child. Mr. Mingo earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology from Northern Illinois University and a master’s degree in biology from Chicago State University.
He was both a teacher and an administrator during his career as an educator at schools in Chicago and Gary, retiring in 2004.
He took phone calls at home long after the final school bell, his daughter, Jennifer Mingo, said.
“The thing about my father,” said his daughter, who now lives in a suburb of London, “he was thoroughly committed to education for all children. If he wasn’t advising teachers, he was talking to principals and school administrators. . . . He always wanted what was best for children — in Chicago and in Gary; that’s just who he was.”
In addition to his daughter, survivors include: his wife, Janet Mingo; two other daughters, Nathalie Mingo and Dana Mingo; a son, Jeffery Mingo; and a brother, Clifton Mingo.
A memorial service is set for 10 a.m. Thursday at New Faith Baptist Church, 25 S. Central Ave., in Matteson.
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