Mrs. Maxine McNair has passed. She was 93 years old. She was the mother of Carol Denise McNair, one of the Four Little Girls who was killed in the 16th Street Church bombing in Alabama in 1963.

Mrs. McNair was the last living parent of the bombing victims. Her family announced her death in a press release. A cause of death was not given.

She worked as a teacher for over three decades in Birmingham public schools. Her daughter, Lisa McNair, said she changed many lives through education and left a lasting legacy through the students she touched. 

“Mrs. McNair was an amazing wife and mother and as a teacher of 33 years in the Birmingham public school system imparted knowledge in the lives of hundreds. We are going to miss her laughter and her humor. The family would appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers,” the family’s statement said.

Her husband Chris McNair, died in 2019 at the age of 93. He was one of the first Black members of the Alabama legislature since Reconstruction, and a Jefferson County commissioner.

11-year-old Denise was the youngest girl killed in the bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church, the deadliest single attack of the civil rights movement. Also killed were three 14-year-olds: Addie Mae Collins, Carole Rosamond Robertson and Cynthia Dionne Wesley.