Felex L. Armfeild, a 30-year member of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and a professor of history and social studies at SUNY Buffalo State, has died. He was 51.

He died April 30 in a three-alarm fire at his apartment, according to published reports.

A dedicated teacher-scholar, Armfield was recognized for his teaching and service at Western Illinois University and Buffalo State College. Most recently, he was awarded the Hero Award from the Disability Services Office, The Students’ Award for the Promotion of Respect for Diversity and Individual Differences, and the William Wells Brown Award from the Afro-American Historical Association of the Niagara Frontier.

 He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history at North Carolina Central University. He earned his Ph.D. in history with a concentration in African American history and archival administration at Michigan State University.

In Buffalo, he was an active member of First Shiloh Baptist Church. He was baptized and was a lifelong member of Holly Hill Free Will Baptist Church in Greenville.

 He joined the history department at Western Illinois University in 1995.

At SUNY Buffalo State, he was a member of the African and African American Studies Interdisciplinary Unit and a member of the school’s graduate faculty.

Armfield was an active member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. His most recent publication, Eugene Kinckle Jones: The National Urban League and Black Social Work, 1910-1940, honors the legacy of this black leader of the early 20th century, but it also honors the legacy of one of the jewels of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.  He last served the ASALH as an executive council member.

Felix Armfield is survived by his father, Jasper Armfield Jr. (Shirley), Belvoir, N.C.; his grandmother, Christine Armfield, Greenville, N.C.; his sisters, Kimberly Armfield, Upper Marlboro, Md. and Sandy McKenny, Fredricksburg, Va.; one brother, Jeffrey Armfield (Venetia), New Haven, Conn.; his loving godmother, Shirley Hunter, Greenville, N.C.; and a family of aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, cousins and loving friends, including Quince Brinkley, Jacqueline McLeod, Bonita Durand, Ron Stewart, Diane “Cookie” Williams,  and Bettye Gardner.

Burial was at Burial Dancy Memorial Cemetery.

A fund has been set up to support  NCCU students’ continuous participation in the ASALH. Send donations to the Felix Armfield ASALH-NCCU Fund, The Association for the Study of African American Life and History, 2225 Georgia Ave., Suite 331, Washington, DC 20059.