For more than 13 years, Oliver Rodney “Rod” Hunt Singleton played a critical role in providing more opportunities to minority-owned businesses as the president and chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Business League in Jackson Ward.

In his MBL post, the genial man with a charitable heart and warm smile connected many small businesses with larger ones to foster business development and expansion.

Overseeing an average of about 150 MBL member businesses annually, he also helped small businesses set up benefit packages for their employees, helped MBL members and non-members alike draw up business plans, held seminars for business owners and prospective owners, served as a mentor to countless entrepreneurs and spotlighted MBL members in the newsletter he wrote.

Whether he was meeting with business leaders in a corporate boardroom or a small coffee shop, Mr. Singleton was known for earning their trust with his business savvy, charm and sincerity.

He also organized the Women Who Mean Business Summit, one of the largest conferences for professional and executive women in the region.

In recent years, Mr. Singleton soldiered on despite excruciating chronic pain he suffered after going through multiple back surgeries.

“Oliver Singleton was a champion of small businesses, a cheerleader and had a passion for the business community,” said Metropolitan Business League board Chair Sharon Dabney-Woolridge, president and CEO of Kleane Kare Team Inc.

Mr. Singleton is being remembered following his death Tuesday, April 12, 2016, in Richmond. He was 63.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete at the Free Press publication deadline.

A public tribute to Mr. Singleton is to be held in conjunction with the 25th Annual Metropolitan Business League Awards Dinner and Reception at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 19, at the John Marshall Ballrooms, 101 N. 5th St. in Downtown, according to a release by the group. For more information, go to www.mbl25.eventbrite.com.

News of Mr. Singleton’s death spread quickly in the community and those who knew him best praised him as a man whose legacy is that of a community servant.

“I met Oliver Singleton on my first day as a student at the University of Virginia,” recalled George Keith Martin, managing partner at McGuireWoods law firm. “I knew then that he was special. He was a dear friend. He blessed so many people with his love, intellect and humor.

“Richmond was his adoptive home,” he added. “He loved it and worked hard to make it better. He believed in the Metropolitan Business League and its mission. He will be sorely missed. My prayers go out to his friends, family and community members.”

Jack Berry, former director of Venture Richmond and now a candidate for Richmond’s mayor, called Mr. Singleton “a giant in this community who helped so many people from all walks of life to reach their dreams.”

“Oliver is the one who talked me into running for mayor,” he noted. “He was the chairman of my campaign and we were doing this together as teammates and best friends. His loss is devastating to me and so many others.”

Ken Ampy, founder and CEO of Astyra Corp. and immediate past MBL board chair, said, “Oliver Singleton was one of the smartest people that I have ever met. He was a steward of the Richmond community.”

A Norfolk native, Mr. Singleton was a graduate of the University of Virginia. He spent much of his career in securities and investments as a stockbroker. He was a vice president for Smith Barney and for Prudential Securities. He also held executive posts with Wall Street Investment Corp. and Pryor, McC1endon, Counts & Co. He also operated his own consulting firm, Navy Hill Business Associates.

Prior to taking the MBL leadership post, Mr. Singleton served as deputy director for the state’s Department of Minority Business Enterprise under Govs. Mark R. Warner and Jim Gilmore.

From 1994 to 1999, Mr. Singleton chaired the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, where he won credit for raising the level of business the agency did with African-American and other minority-owned firms. During his tenure as chairman, RRHA also launched the HOPE VI redevelopment of Blackwell and teamed up with the city on other housing and commercial projects, including the Crestar, now SunTrust, building developments on South Side. He also was a member of the Leadership Metro Richmond Class of 1983.

Mr. Singleton is survived by his wife, Rose; two daughters, Rachel of Richmond, Christine, a student at Spelman College in Atlanta; and one son, Oliver Rodney Hunt Singleton Jr., a student at Longwood University in Farmville; two brothers, Warren and Walter Singleton Jr.; and a host of other relatives and friends.