Della Beatrice Howard Robinson is the ex-wife of the late Ray Charles Robinson, Sr., an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer. The couple had been married for 22 years and had three children.

numerous people close to Charles believe that of the numerous women he had affairs with, Howard was the one he truly loved and wanted to be with forever.

Della Beatrice, too, has an interesting narrative to tell, ranging from failed relationships to how she became Ms. Robinson. She went from being a poor kid in a segregated tiny village to living in an opulent environment that not even white people could afford at the time.

Before either of them was thirty, she and her ex-husband lived a lifestyle that most Americans could only dream of. Read about Della Beatrice’s incredible journey, including her childhood, personal life, life after divorcing her famous husband, and much more.

Della Beatrice Howard Robinson was born in a rural Texas town.

Ray Charles’ wife, Della Beatrice Antwine, was born two years before her husband. Ray Charles Jr. states in his book, You Don’t Know Me: Reflections Of My Father, that the fact that she was older than her ex-husband irritated her throughout her life.

Her ancestors came from Richmond, Texas, which is about fifteen miles southwest of Houston. Della was born in a town of only 1,500 inhabitants. Her hometown was cotton and oil country, so it wasn’t as hard struck as the rest of the country during the Great Depression.

After the Civil War, Richmond became a haven for emancipated slaves. The train tracks that ran through the centre of town, however, had become a symbol of racial divide by the time Charles’ ex-wife was born. Howard’s mother and two aunts came to Houston when she was a child and worked as live-in housekeepers.

Della attended a black school in Richmond. Every day, she had to walk sixteen miles. Robinson went at Richmond’s school until he was in fourth grade. She then relocated to Houston.

Howard’s Family Owned A Lot Of Land For Separated People.

Robinson’s maternal family owned approximately eighty acres of land, which was shared among the several homes. She shared a one-bedroom frame house with her grandmother Mama Lee and uncle George on ten acres of farmland. They used to grow cotton, corn, peanuts, and potatoes, as well as maintain a truck garden for veggies.

Beatrice’s family also grew fruit trees, wild blackberries, and dewberries. They’d make cobblers and pies out of the fruit and berries. They had horses to move the wagons as well as cows for milk. Her family didn’t need to buy meat because they had plenty of hogs, chickens, ducks, and geese.

Della learned from her parents that food should not be thrown away. They were devout Christians who had built a little church called Zion Watchtower on their property.

Della Beatrice Howard Robinson’s Parents Didn’t Marry

Her parents, ironically, never married. And Della never found out why, because it was never mentioned in her presence. In fact, her father was absent while she was a child, which disturbed her. He had remarried and was now residing in Houston. She knew who he was and knew his name, but the father and daughter never met while the latter was a child.

She then moved to Houston with her mother when she was ten years old, leaving Richmond and her grandma behind. However, the relocation was difficult.

Della frequently fought with her mother.

She had a running feud with her mother from the start. She disliked her mother’s late evenings and after-work parties because she was used to a peaceful life with her grandmother.

Later, when Della’s mother took care of her new baby brother, James, she despised it even more. Robinson said one day that she was moving out on her own. But she quickly regretted her decision. She subsequently went to live with her cousin Robert Lee. Della acknowledges that leaving home at such a young age was one of the worst decisions she ever made.

She largely survived after leaving her mother by “lying.” She added that back then, no one asked for a birth certificate, and she was tall enough to pass for eighteen. She obtained a Social Security card and a health card and began working as a waitress.

Her secondary employment was singing in a gospel choir. As a result, she moved in with Ella Dooley, an older woman in her group. She also joined Cecil Shaw’s gospel ensemble at the age of 16. She had just finished high school.

Della Beatrice Howard Robinson Singing Gospel

She began singing on the radio and at concerts soon after joining Cecil Shaw’s gospel squad. Once she and her bandmates were under contract, they moved on to larger cathedrals and concert theaters. There was soon a recording deal; some of the creations made it onto CDs and are still accessible. Della’s face could be seen on the covers, beaming into the camera. Robinson was well on her way to a flourishing gospel career by the time she was out of her teens.

How Did Howard Meet Ray Charles?

Howard was in her late twenties and still a gospel singer. Charles, like many others, was in the early phases of his profession, touring the Jim Crow circuit. When he was driving, he enjoyed listening to the radio. He happened to hear the Cecil Shaw singers on the radio one day while driving through Texas. “Pray On, My Child,” the song, was sung by none other than Della Beatrice Howard. He found her voice to be very compelling and resolved to meet her.

When did Della Beatrice Howard Robinson first meet Ray Charles, her husband?

Janet Hubbard is the author. In Ray Charles, Brown recounts the first time Beatrice met her future husband, Charles. Brown adds that when the What I’d Say singer met Della, she was a fat woman his age with a bright smile and happy demeanor. The writer goes on to say that it occurred during her tenure with the Cecil Shaw Singers. And she’d heard the Grammy Hall Of Famer was a womanizer and a drug addict while in Houston.

The Genius enjoyed gospel singing, and one of his favorite groups was the Cecil Shaw Singers. Della, on the other hand, remembered him as disagreeable at times and excessively self-centered. She had this idea of Brother Ray as a womanizer and a man who barely loved a girl before meeting him. Despite this, she offered to introduce him to the Cecil Shaw Singers.

Howard’s down-to-earth qualities wowed Charles right away. The pioneer of the soul music genre returned on the road not long after their initial meeting. He, on the other hand, called her frequently and wrote her love notes on a portable typewriter. He recommended that she move to Dallas with him to start again. The artist from Georgia thought Houston was too humid and more racist than Dallas.

Ray Charles stalked Della Beatrice Howard Robinson, his ex-wife.

Della never expected to see Ray again after leaving the hotel following their meeting. But she was perplexed when she kept running into him on the road. Both of them were on tour with their respective bands, but every time she looked around, he was there.

Howard only found the regular meetings were not a coincidence years later. The Albany native had established a secret pact with Cecil to track his ex-wife’s movements so he always knew where she was heading next.

Despite the fact that she was married to her second husband at the time (more on that later). But she soon left him and traveled to New York, staying at the Hotel Theresa. There, by chance, she would run across Charles again.

Howard struggled with the cold in New York before beginning a relationship with her ex-husband, Ray Charles.

She fled to New York in the winter to escape her terrible second marriage. She lacked clothing and money. Ray Charles Jr.’s mother was barely making ends meet and living in continuous fear of eviction.

Charles eventually came to her help and paid her week’s rent without her awareness. On Ray’s request, Beatrice reluctantly relocated to Dallas. They fell in love after that.

Della and Charles Wed in a Dilapidated Room

Della Howard, then 26, married Ray Charles in Dallas in 1955. They got married in a junky back room, and a woman they’d never met read them their vows. Even though Charles hadn’t become a household name and was struggling financially, the first few years went smoothly. Ray Charles Robinson Jr., the former couple’s first child, was born in May 1955. They lived on Myrtle Street in Dallas, Texas, with their first son.

They had two additional boys, David Robinson and Robert Robinson, over the next few years.

However, as much as Charles claimed he desired a home life and a family, his life on the road, filled with women and drugs, exacerbated matters. In any way, he managed to compartmentalize his existence into two parts: family man and road musician. And he made certain that one did not collide with the other.

Della’s husband, the Polar Music Prize winner, continued touring, writing music, and checking in on his family. He was releasing three singles per year on average. Meanwhile, Robinson had another son, and Charles relocated the family to Los Angeles.

What Caused Howard’s Divorce From Ray?

Charles’ need for sex persisted while he was on the road and Della was at home. He was having an infamous affair with Mary Ann Fisher at the time. Ray was seeing two other women, Margie Hendricks and Mae Mosely Lyles, within two years of his marriage to Robinson.

Charles’ gospel singer’s wife was aware of his extramarital affairs, but she chose to stay with him because of her religion.

The Separation

Ray’s three children’s mother finally filed for divorce in 1976, albeit the circumstances were kept private. Robinson was living with her son, Charles Jr., and his girlfriend at the time.

Della and her ex-husband, Charles, were on better terms by 1983. However, the Jazz legend’s career and health were not doing so well. He had recently removed “abnormally patent Eustachian tubes.” The treatment nearly killed him, but he was saved by antibiotics. Furthermore, he had the worst tour in band members’ memories in 1983.

Della would pay Charles visits and bring him food while he was in the hospital for rehabilitation.

Howard’s ex-husband died on June 10, 2004, as a consequence of complications from liver disease.

Della Beatrice Howard Robinson was married twice before Ray Charles.

Before meeting, Charles and Della had both been married and divorced; the latter twice.

Her romantic history was as bleak as that of her Grammy Hall Of Fame ex-husband. Della yearned for a home of her own and children when she was twenty in the early 1950s. So, after meeting him at a church service one night, she married a tall, gorgeous minister’s son. Although his identity was never revealed, he was described as being six feet four, with ebony skin and thick, curly black hair.

They married and relocated to the countryside. It was fine for a few weeks. Della’s newfound happiness, however, only lasted for what she refers to as “a hot five minutes.” When he was upset with her, this decent Christian man began to physically beat her. So Robinson divorced him and returned to Houston.

Another Broken Marriage

Beatrice rushed into a second hurried marriage with another tall, attractive churchgoer. She was twenty-four years old at the time and worried that she would never have a kid.

Her second marriage appeared to be wonderful from the outside. However, this marriage disintegrated much faster than the first; her second spouse was far more aggressive than the first. The Richmond native was terrified of him, too terrified to return home when the group’s next tour came to an end. So, instead of returning to him, she abandoned the tour on the spur of the moment and fled to New York City. It was winter, and she didn’t have a job, no prospects, and no winter clothes.

What happened to Della Beatrice Howard Robinson?

She was residing in Riverside County with stable health when she was reported in 2010. It’s unclear whether Ray’s ex-wife married after her divorce from Georgia On My Mind singer.

Also Read: Family Life and Hefty Net Worth Of Bumper Robinson

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