William T. Broadous dies at 71; San Fernando Valley church leader and advocate

The Rev. William T. Broadous, scion of an influential San Fernando Valley family of ministers and longtime senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Pacoima, died of a heart attack May 3 in a hospital in the Santa Clarita Valley, said his sister, the Rev. Pamela Broadous. He was 71.

Broadous was one of 10 children of the Rev. Hillery T. and Rosa L. Broadous who came to Pacoima from Arkansas in the 1940s. The family sank deep roots into the area and became known for community activism and service.

The parents founded the San Fernando Valley chapter of the NAACP and Calvary Baptist in 1955. The younger Broadous became its pastor after his father’s death in 1982.

Five of his siblings also became ministers. The Alicia Broadous-Duncan Multi-Purpose Senior Center in Pacoima was named for one of them -- his sister Alicia, who died in 2003.

Under William T. Broadous’s guidance, Calvary established Calvary Christian School, a children’s academy, a bookstore and a community development corporation. Broadous was also a police chaplain, and in 1988, he helped escort a suspected murderer into the lobby of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Station to turn himself in.

Broadous led ministry trips to Africa, campaigned against street violence, set up a Latino ministry, and advocated for former prisoners and for economic development in the northeast Valley. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, the Rev. Gloria L. Broadous, five children, 10 grandchildren, and seven of his siblings.