Arkelga Leviticus Braxton, Jr.

Please click here to view the Live Stream of the Funeral Service

The Live Stream of the Funeral Service for Mr. Arkelga Braxton will begin at 10:30am on Saturday, October 17th, 2020.

Arkelga L. Braxton, Jr., affectionately known as Brax, Uncle Kel Kel, Kelga, and Pops, went to be with his heavenly father on Monday, September 28, 2020 after a two-year long battle fighting carcinoid cancer.

On July 24^th, 1964, at 11:16 AM, Arkelga made his arrival in the world, to his parents, Arkelga L. Braxton, Sr. and Ruth Davis Braxton. He grew up in a Christian home in Cambridge, Maryland, and was baptized on July 18, 1965 at Waugh Chapel United Methodist Church.  As a youth, he actively participated in Church activities, including Sunday school plays, recitals, and the Boy Scout troop.  On Maces Lane, where he grew up, Kelga and the other children on the street were like one big family.  Neighborhood children were always welcomed at the house to play basketball, baseball, and kickball. Kelga enjoyed riding his bike through town with his friends.  A great swimmer, Kelga’s swimming earned him a position as a life guard for the Dorchester Recreation and Parks during the summer.

Arkelga was educated in the Dorchester County Public School System, graduating from Cambridge—South Dorchester High School in 1982. He loved basketball and was in a community youth league.  In high school, his athletic ability led him to play lacrosse and run cross country. Recognizing his math aptitude, his father, a math teacher, taught him chess and these skills lead him to be a member of the chess team.  His writing ability garnered him a position on the publication staff of the Zeitgeist magazine. But Kelga’s real love was playing the trumpet in the marching, and concert bands. His talent won him a band scholarship to Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland, upon his graduation from high school. His goal was to become an accountant when he began his studies at Morgan State in the Fall of 1982.

Arkelga accomplished his dream graduating in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. After college, he moved to the Washington, DC area where he worked in various accounting positions in small companies, with each experience getting him closer to his dream of becoming an auditor. To accomplish this goal, Arkelga pursued becoming a Certified Public Accountant. In November 1991, he completed and passed the Maryland Certified Public Accountancy exam. Of the 2,479 persons who took the exam, Arkelga was among the 20 percent (494 persons) who passed. His first auditor position was with Lucas,Tucker & Company, the first and oldest African-American/minority owned accounting firm in the United States. This was largely due to one of his first mentors, Mr. Edward Pinder, a former student of his father, who was employed there. From this assignment, Arkelga went to work at other private accounting firms as a road-warrior auditor where he conducted audits for companies throughout the United States.  He was blessed in his auditing career to encounter another mentor, Mr. Ogbeide Oniha, who was instrumental in Arkelga becoming a Senior Auditor with the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 1997.  His 23-year career at the GAO culminated in him becoming an Assistant Director with the Financial Management and Assurance Team (Defense Financial Audits). His GAO family describes Arkelga as a gentle soul who was highly respected by his peers. He believed in mentoring junior accountants in the agency and was active in the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA).

Arkelga found time from pursuing his career to meet his soulmate and the love of his life, his wife, Michelle McAdams in 1991. Their 29-year romance was filled with love and many happy memories of them traveling and entertaining family and friends. The family expanded with the addition of Osman Tholley.  Arkelga was an attentive father going to soccer practices and games, karate practices, swimming lessons, working on school science projects, fishing, providing trumpet lessons, and passing on fatherly advice.

Arkelga relished helping young people.  He worked as a volunteer with the Maryland Foster Care Program. He found his real niche working with Extra-Ordinary Birthdays, a nonprofit that provides personalized birthday parties to homeless children. Not only was he their accountant, he also loved to work with the kids and to fundraise for the organization.

Arkelga was a great cook. His roasted, smoked turkey was legendary in the family and at work.  He loved to BBQ and his summers were spent on the grill cooking pork shoulder, his specialty, and ribs. He loved fishing especially returning to Cambridge to fish at Long Wharf or the fishing pier. His summer highlights included taking the family to Ocean City, Maryland, Williamsburg, Virginia; and attending the Cambridge Seafood Feast –I- Val. He would invite friends, family and co-workers to the Feast-I-Val every year. Arkelga loved to workout. He would rise early on Saturday and Sunday mornings to go to the SPORTFIT Health Club near his home in Bowie, Maryland, where he would attend boot camp, spin classes, and weightlift. He also worked out at work during lunchtimes. Last, but not least, Arkelga was an avid football enthusiast who loved the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was able to cheer on the Steelers at Heinz Stadium many times.

Arkelga was preceded in death by his father, Arkelga L. Braxton, Sr; his maternal grandparents, Edgar and Hattie Davis; and his paternal grandparents, Clemmie and Daisy Braxton. To cherish his memory he leaves his wife, Michelle, and his son, Osman; his mother, Ruth Braxton; father–in–law Melvin McAdams; two sisters: Mynichia Braxton, and Bianca Smith (Timothy); his nieces: Tyvonnia and Timara, and nephews: Timothy and Timeric; his godson, Jordan Jackson; his goddaughter, Kennedy Brooks; and his god sisters: Lynda Brown and Vicki Lee. His childhood and life-long friends: Darnell Jackson (Tonya), Byron Chester, and Brent Thompson; and his cousin/brother: Marlon Jeffrey Davis (Pam). Special friends of the family, Nancy Bainda, and her children, Bessie and Fatima. He leaves a host of other family, friends and loved ones.

A viewing will be held at Beall Funeral Home, 6512 NW Crain Highway, Bowie, Maryland 20715, on Friday, October 16, 2020, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM.  The funeral service is private due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, the service can be viewed electronically on the funeral home’s website, on Saturday, October 17, 2020, from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to one of the following organizations in memory of Arkelga L. Braxton, Jr.:

Capital Area Carcinoid/Neuroendocrine Tumor Survivors (CACNETS), c/o Sally Wallace, CACNETS Treasurer, 5322 Stonington Drive, Fairfax VA. 22031 (Please note: CACNETS is an all-volunteer group but is NOT a (501)c3 organization and contributions are NOT tax deductible).

Carcinoid Cancer Foundation
118 North Bedford Road, Suite 100
Mount Kisco, NY  10549 or give online at  https://carcinoid.kindful.com.
To donate in memory of Arkelga L. Braxton, Jr., add his name onto the memo line. The family will be contacted concerning the donation.

Morgan State University to benefit the Morgan State University Band Program.  Checks should be made payable to the Morgan State University Foundation and mailed to Morgan State University, 1700 E. Cold Spring Lane, Baltimore, MD  21251 or give online at https://givetomorgan.org/give/

Extra-ordinary Birthdays

P.O. Box 1109

College Park, MD 20740 or give online at https://extraordinarybirthdays.charityproud.org/donate.

Waugh Chapel United Methodist Church

P.O.  Box 275

Cambridge, MD 21613