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Reverend Dr. Samuel B. Joubert Sr. Way

Cover of Rev. Joubert's book, displayed under fair use.

Rev. Dr. Samuel B. Joubert Sr. (1922-2013) was the pastor of the Community Baptist Church in Bayside for 47 years, beginning in the late 1960s. A longtime resident of Bayside, he spent his life in service to his faith and his community. He served as president of the Bayside and Vicinity Interfaith Interracial Improvement Council for several years, which offered programs for young people, and he instituted the NYC Needy Family Food Program, which evolved into a family clothing program. Joubert was also chaplain of the Bayside Volunteer Ambulance Corps, a clergy liaison for the 111th Police Precinct, and president of the Bayside branch of the NAACP. In recognition of his lifelong service, he received many awards from the NYC Board of Education, the 111th Police Precinct Community Council, the Queens Borough President, and other agencies and organizations.

Samuel Berthal Joubert was born in Grand Prairie, Louisiana, to Edmond Joubert III, who managed the family farm, and Virigie Wickliffe Joubert, a schoolteacher. The fifth of their eight children to survive infancy, Joubert attended high school in Opelousas, Louisiana, and Peabody High School in Alexandria, Louisiana. At age 15, he was elected president of the state 4-H Club. Serving for three years, he gave speeches around the state, experiences that he considered the beginning of his career as a public speaker.

In 1945, he moved to New York City, settling in Harlem. On September 11, 1948, he married Doris Joyce Lee Thorpe, and the couple raised five children together. Joubert worked for a period at Harlem Hospital. In 1954, he began preaching full-time as pastor of the New Jerusalem Baptist Church in Upper Manhattan.

On June 10, 2023, a co-naming ceremony was held at Community Baptist Church in Bayside to rename the northeast corner of 46th Road and 206th Street in Joubert’s honor as Rev. Dr. Samuel B. Joubert Sr. Way. The corner is located directly in front of the church where Joubert served his community for nearly half a century.

Sources:

"Committee Report of the Infrastructure Division," The Council of the City of New York, February 16, 2023

Rev. Dr. Samuel B. Joubert, Sr. "Life's Crossroad To Destiny." Brooklyn, New York: Welstar Publications, 2009