Remembering Earnest Hite

Janice Layne (left), Earnest Hite (center), and Otis Richardson (right) celebrate Faith In Prevention's first year of service in 2005.

AFC joins community members in mourning the unexpected passing of Earnest Hite on January 14, 2008. As a leading local HIV/AIDS advocate, Earnest dedicated many years of his life in service to his community. We send our thoughts and deepest condolences to Earnest’s loved ones. He will be missed.

Eric Nelson, Executive Director of Better Existence with HIV (BEHIV), where Earnest most recently served as Prevention Manager, issued the following message:

“Everyone at BEHIV is deeply saddened by the passing of our Prevention Manager, Earnest Edward Hite. Earnest was an important part of our family and our staff and this is a very difficult time for the entire agency. Earnest's knowledge of and experience in the Prevention field helped BEHIV to dramatically expand the scope of services provided to our community in the past two years. He understood the need for increased testing and counseling opportunities for at-risk communities and worked very hard to forge new relationships and partnerships to provide these services. We will honor Earnest's work by continuing to reach out to those people at risk for infection, or at risk of infecting others."