Model Terri Springer has died at the age of 93, Ebony Magazine reported. The veteran model passed away on July 26, in Columbus, Ohio.
Springer was one of the first Black fashion models on the scene during the 1960s. She got her start in 1959 as a model for Ebony Fashion Fair. She was tall with a dark complexion, earning her the nickname, “The Black Stallion.”
Dorothy “Terri” Springer was born in Birmingham, Alabama, but spent her adult life in Ohio. She married her husband, Dr. Watson Walker, in 1972. Watson was a surgeon with his own practice. He passed away in 1990.
A memorial service will be held in Columbus on August 7 at 11:00 a.m at the Diehl-Whittaker Chapel. Rev. Dr. Otha Gilyard will give Springer’s eulogy.
#EBONY Remembers Beloved Fashion Fair Model Terri Springer, Who Recently Passed Away at 93 – https://t.co/SvKVsqrTxv pic.twitter.com/7WYcJY3dIh
— EBONY MAGAZINE (@EBONYMag) July 29, 2021
Her niece Karla Jackson remembers attending the fashion shows as a little girl that her aunt would walk in.
“I remember being six and being at one of the fashion shows and seeing her walk across the stage as a little girl. She loved everything about Johnson Publishing and Fashion Fair,” said Jackson.
Jackson also said that her aunt was a classy woman who was always well-groomed with every hair in place who loved to get dressed up. She also loved to throw dinner parties and cook gourmet meals for her guests and play pinochle.
“Aunt Terri was such the lady,” she said. “I can never remember her not having everything in place. Hair, makeup, everything. I don’t know if it was her personality or EBONY Fashion Fair training. If she knew people were coming by, she would dress the part. She was always entertaining.”
Springer loved pinochle so much that she not only had a pinochle table, she traveled to pinochle tournaments for decades.
“Aunt Terri traveled to different pinochle tournaments for years. She did that for probably 20 years. She had pinochle parties at her house. She had a pinochle table. It was a big hobby,” Jackson said.
Springer was preceded in death by her three older siblings.
