Percy “Happy” Watkins, who co-founded Spokane’s annual march in memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and was a longtime voice in the civil rights movement in Spokane, died Friday. He was 82.

For decades, he was known to give voice to King as he recited King’s “I Have a Dream” speech each year at Spokane’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day march. The tradition of his annual recitation began back in 1971—just three years after King was assassinated.

“It is with heavy hearts that we learn of the passing of Reverend Happy Watkins. Born in the Bronx, but a Spokaneite in heart and soul since 1961, he has served our community with a heart of gold and helped us remember Dr. King’s words when he recited the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech every year like clockwork. and at events throughout the year,” Spokane City Council President Betsy Wilkerson wrote on Facebook.

Watkins was the longtime pastor of New Hope Baptist Church—leading the church from 1990 until his retirement in 2018. He and his close friend Ivan Bushanother prominent civil rights leader in Spokane, organized the annual Kings March in Spokane for decades.

Born in the Bronx, Watkins came to Spokane in 1961 as an airman stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base. In a 2018 profile, Watkins expressed his confusion about relatively rural and white Spokane.

“I was 19 and a half years old and I started crying… (I was told) about bears, hard winters. I was devastated,” he recalled at the time.

Still, Watkins found community in the church and soon called Spokane home.

Over the course of more than 60 years in the city, Watkins worked as an insurance salesman, opened a barbecue restaurant, ran for city council, led the local NAACP, married his wife Etta and raised four sons.

Spokane Superior Court Judge Breean Beggs said Watkins always had an encouraging word for him. Beggs is the former director of the Spokane Center for Justice, which focused on civil rights issues.

“To me, Happy was the epitome of belonging to Spokane County. More than anyone I know, he exemplified that,” said Beggs, a former chairman of the Spokane City Council. “He made Spokane a better place.”

Steve Corker, who served eight years on the Spokane City Council from 2008 to 2011, said Watkins was like a “surrogate father” to him.

“I’m going to miss him,” Corker said. “He was a kind, good person, and we need more of them. He was willing to talk and willing to bring people together, and we need more of that, too.”

Corker and Watkins were active in Democratic politics in the 1970s, Corker said.

He said Watkins shopped him during the time when Corker was in his 30s and relatively new to Spokane and politics.

“He was one of the kindest individuals I’ve ever met in the city of Spokane,” Corker said.

Watkins helped him understand minority issues during his early political career and both were involved in the campaign for James Chase, who was elected in 1981 as Spokane’s first black mayor.

Like many others, Corker fondly recalled Watkins’ recitation of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

“I just remember having a kind of rebirth of thought and belonging every time he gave that speech,” Corker said.

Former Spokane Mayor David Condon, who served two terms in the 2010s, said Watkins came into his office countless times to discuss issues focused on police-community relations, community centers and the black community.

Condon believed the first time he met Watkins was at the opening of the Martin Luther King Jr. Way, which skirts the University District and which Watkins advocated.

“He is a titan in our community whose legacy will live on for generations to come,” Condon said.

Watkins was a longtime leader of Spokane’s NAACP. Former chapter president Kurtis Robinson said Watkins held the organization together as president when membership declined.

“He was there to keep the NAACP alive. And we must do the same. His call to us is to pick up the baton. His legacy is for us to carry it forward,” he says.

Robinson said he saw Watkins just two weeks ago and he was still the man who could bring a crowd to tears with the words of MLK Jr.

“I know Happy had a dream for us too,” he said.

Spokane Unitarian pastor and friend of Watkins, Todd Eklof, said Watkins was an “icon” who “served as a role model for everyone who knew him.” Ahead of a marriage equality referendum in 2012, Watkins spoke publicly in support of gay marriage. The move surprised some, but it was just an example of his courage, Eklöf said.

“Happy expressed his traditional faith in a non-traditional way,” he said of the Baptist preacher. “He was happy. And he made everyone else happy, too.”

Jonathan Brunt contributed to this report.