SAN DIEGO -- Sidney Loman, the 17th son of a slave who organized the area's first black Boy Scout troops and was the nation's oldest scout leader at the age of 101, died of an apparent heart attack Wednesday at Paradine Valley Hospital..
Loman was confined to a wheelchair following amputation of his legs in his 90s.
Funeral arrangements were still incomplete.
Loman is survived by three daughters; three sons; 17 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.
Despite his handicap, Loman remained active in scouting. He also was acive in Big Brothers of San Diego, which he jlined in 1936.
He organized the first black scout troops in the Imperial Valley and San Diego, was active as scoutmaster of Troop 420 until the time of his death.
The son of a freed slave, Loman was born in Rosebud, Texas, and was the 17th of 19 children. When he was 8, the family moved to the Indian Territory that later became Oklahoma.
A World War I Army veteran, Loman moved to California in 1919. He later moved to the Imperial Valley, then San Diego.
In 1952, he was the recipient of the Silver Beaver Award, scouting's highest award for service to boys.
