Dr. Angela Winfrey, psychologist

SOME MIGHT say Angela Denise Winfrey was organized to a fault. She even organized her own memorial service when she realized her time was short.

That ability to be organized, combined with her expertise and passion for her work, enabled her to excel as a psychologist with a special interest in needy and hurting children.

She studied and worked with children suffering from numerous afflictions, from cocaine-addicted parents to cerebral-palsy patients to those suffering the loss of family members or friends, and much other trauma.

She also did extensive consulting work with children at the troubled Chester-Upland School District. In other words, wherever there was a need that psychology and her special breed of compassion could help, she was there.

Dr. Angela Winfrey died of uterine cancer Wednesday. She was 56 and lived in Southwest Philadelphia.

"She was the consummate professional and scholar," said longtime friend and associate Jean Waites-Howard, a therapist and mental-health counselor with Empowerment Resource Associates.

"She contributed much to research, looking at our children and their mental-health needs. Angela's goals were lofty and achievable."

When she knew she was dying, Angela planned her memorial service, held Saturday at the Francis Funeral Home, 63rd Street and Elmwood Avenue.

Her funeral will be held in Memphis, but she wanted a service here because many of her friends and associates are in Philadelphia, Jean said.

Angela was born in Memphis and received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Middle Tennessee State University, a master's in psychology from George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, a master's in public affairs from Texas Southern University and a doctorate in clinical neuropsychology from Drexel University in 1996.

In 1993, she received the Carnegie Mellon Public Service Graduate Fellowship and, in 1995, the National Institute of Mental Health's Graduate Fellowship.

Angela was a consultant to the Young Scholars Charter School, at Broad and Master streets, at the time of her death.

She also taught at Chestnut Hill College and at Richard Stockton College, in Pomona, N.J.

As a licensed school psychologist and clinical neuropsychologist, Angela held a number of consulting positions, including those with the Chester-Upland School District's Early Intervention Programs; the Village Charter School, in Chester; Chester's YouthBuild; the Philadelphia Presbytery; Head Start; Children's Seashore House; United Cerebral Palsy Association of Philadelphia, and the Graduate Hospital Department of Neurology.

In collaboration with a group of African-American psychologists, she helped establish a North Carolina state chapter of the National Association of Black Psychologists in 1977.

She was chairwoman of the Students' Concerns Committee of the Delaware Valley Association of Black Psychologists from 1991 to 1996.

Angela was an associate member of the neuropsychology and clinical and experimental psychopharmacology divisions of the American Psychological Association.

She also was a member of the Chester-Upland district's special-education task force, and the New York Neuropsychology Group of the New York Academy of Sciences.

"Not too strong a word was that she was passionate about her profession and people," her family wrote. "She took enormous pride in her scholarship without any apparent ego and remarkable and unique combination of virtues."

She is survived by her mother, Jannie Winfrey; her daughter, Jenaba Winfrey-Porter; two brothers, Wesley Winfrey and Jarrett Winfrey.

Services: Saturday at Greater Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Memphis, Tenn.

Contributions may be made to the Greater Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church's Educational Fund, 27 Chelsea Ave., Memphis, Tenn. 38108. *