Georgia Provost, the 'unofficial' mayor of Third Ward, dies at 85

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Beloved community activist Georgia Provost has died at the age of 85.

Provost was known and loved for her advocacy for Texas Southern University, her Third Ward photography studio, and the Friday Fish Frys she held at her home.

You might also recognize Provost from her playful TV commercials for River Oaks Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram.

"Georgia Provost, famously known as 'Mother P' to most people, was such a figure in our city," Houston City Councilman Willie Davis said.

"If you were a son or daughter at TSU doing positive things, Ms. Provost always called you son or daughter. 'My daughter, my son,'" well-known photographer Earlie Hudnall Jr. said. "She was the cook for the tennis team for 14 years while Mr. Provost coached tennis. Each and every day the tennis team came to Ms. Provost's house for dinner. And so did I."

Provost graduated from TSU, worked there as a professor, and then spent the rest of her life promoting and fundraising for the university.

"She would always tell me, 'I'm the only person who loves TSU more than you do,'" TSU Distinguished Professor of Law James Matthew Douglas said.

In May, Provost was awarded TSU's first-ever Presidential Service Award.

"She did love people, but if you did something that she didn't like, I don't care who you were, she let you know," Douglas said. "I remember once the governor was in town, she went over to a luncheon and gave him a piece of her mind."

"Ms. Provost will be missed, but I hope each and every one of us that knew her feel obligated to invest into each other, into the community, and the issues that affect all of us," Hudnall added. "Ms. Provost was about positive change."

Until her death, Provost owned and operated a local photography business her husband opened almost 80 years ago on North MacGregor Way.

"We photographed the majority of the African American schools in Houston through the 60s and up to the 80s," her son, Jerome Provost, said. "And my dad photographed almost all of the Black high schools throughout East Houston, from, let's say, Port Arthur all the way up to Texarkana."

The business operated on the first floor and the family lived on the second floor.

The room at the back of the property, Jerome said, was a 'party house,' for students to spend time together perfecting their photography skills.

"Anyone who knows her, spent any time with her, knows what her sign off was," he said. "Her sign-off was, 'I love you and there's nothing that you can do about it.'"