Rivera Beach, Fla. – Two beloved local heroes were honored when the local New Africa of the Palm Beaches group hosted the Florida Conference of Muslim Americans two decades ago at a beach hotel on Singer Island in Riviera Beach.

One was Edith Bush, the venerable West Palm Beach resident and executive director of the Martin Luther King Coordinating Committee since its founding in 1981, whose contributions to the local community are legendary.

The other was another local legend: Ulysses D. Winn, known as “Pop Winn” or simply “sensei” – the honorific for their martial arts teacher – to countless local youths.

Funeral services will be held for Winn, who passed, on Saturday, May 18, at 11 a.m., at Jehovah Shalom Baptist Church, 2120 Avenue S, in Riviera Beach.

Visitation will take place on Friday, May 17, 5 – 7 p.m., also at Jehovah Shalom.

Winn was like a father to many of the youngsters who attend his karate classes at Tate and Wells recreation centers, Palm Beach Lakes High School and West Gate Community Center, The Palm Beach Post reported in 1991.

"I would like for some kid to say I can always go to Mr. Winn and he can always tell me what’s right, the right way to go, and always include God in it," said Winn, then a senior office clerk at Pratt & Whitney, who had been guiding youngsters since 1965, and began teaching karate in his front yard after returning home from the Army.

His father, Ulysses Winn Sr., was a karate expert. The son, a sixth-degree black belt in Nisei Go-Ju-Ryu karate, who began taking karate when he was in the fifth grade, also credited what he learned about respect from his grandfather, John Stetson Winn, who raised him. He and his grandfather were like brothers, he told The Post. "He (grandfather) used to have a bunch of kids who would come to him and talk to him. His main thing was respect."

“Pop” was encouraged to form classes at Tate in Riviera Beach, where youngsters, teens and adults gathered to learn karate, boxing or kickboxing.

Winn was recognized for his ability to help keep many youngsters and teenagers off the streets and out of trouble, by demanding respect and rewarding them not only for fighting well, but for doing well in school.

“I think he’s a great teacher," as one told The Post, was a constant refrain in describing him.