The “Mother of Motown,” Esther Gordy Edwards, sister of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr., passed away August 24 in Detroit at the age of 91.

During her life-time Edwards held several different leadership positions as a business woman, Motown executive, civil activist and political leader.

As the founder of the Motown Museum, Edwards took, as Berry Gordy, Jr., puts it, “the so-called trash left behind,” and turned it into “a phenomenal world-class monument where Hitsville started.” Gordy, Jr. said, “She preserved Motown memorabilia before it was memorabilia, collecting our history long before we knew we were making it.”

Edwards was also a crucial component to developing young Motown artists and the distinctive Motown sound. She touched the lives of the many Motown artists, especially a young Stevie Wonder, who she helped enroll in the Michigan School for the Blind.

In a heart-felt eulogy, Stevie Wonder wrote, “I’m taken back by the loss of Esther Gordy Edwards.  She meant so much to me as a human being—she embodied the idea of never giving up. She was ever determined in everything she did, she was full of energy and her spirit will continue live on.  She loved the idea of what we were creating in Motown.

She believed in me—when I was 14 years old and many other people didn’t or could only see what they could at the time, she championed me being in Motown. I shared with her many of my songs first before anyone else.  She was like another mother to me, she was an extension of that same kind of motherly love.

I’m in Washington D.C. right now celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King and Esther, who was also a friend of Coretta Scott King, without question will be celebrated here this week and weekend, and her spirit will continue live on.

When we lose someone, we often think “they don’t make people like this anymore.” It is my hope that younger generations and the world will know of her spirit and her pride in world culture.”

Our deepest sympathy goes to her family and friends at this difficult time.