Earle Gumbs' earliest memories as a child were picking strawberries along a dusty farm in New Jersey during the Great Depression, tilling soil from sun up to sun down, and selling fresh produce along the highway with his eight brothers and sisters to make ends meet.

The harsh upbringing was a humble beginning for Gumbs, 79, of Hillcrest Heights and one that he says shaped him to commit to a lifetime of community service and helping others.

Gumbs, a 35-year member of the Hillcrest-Marlow Heights Civic Association who has served the past nine years as the association's president, was honored recently by the group with an appreciation ceremony.

Gumbs, who is married with two adult sons, has been living in Hillcrest Heights since 1971. This year, he helped award $36,000 in college scholarships to area students through the civic association and spearheaded a renovation and expansion of the Hillcrest Heights Community Center.

"God gave me the ability and desire to help [others]," he said. "A lot of people have the ability but not the desire."

Gumbs has been lobbying the Prince George's County Council and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission since 1991 to build the Hillcrest Heights Community Center.

"He's a person that just didn't let things go [concerning the community center]," said James Edelen of Hillcrest Heights, who has known Gumbs for 25 years through his work in the community. "He's a person, to me, that you can trust."

The rise from a farmer's son to accomplished community servant was a bumpy road, Gumbs said.

After attending Hampton University in Virginia in the 1950s and earning his accounting degree, Gumbs hit a stumbling block after returning home to New Jersey to find work in his field.

He recalls reading an employment ad for a New York City-based company that was looking for an accountant and a janitor. He said he put on his best suit, packed his résumé and headed into the city, only to get there and be told by the employer that the janitor's position had already been filled.

"It didn't feel good at all. At that time they wouldn't consider me [an African-American] for an accounting job," he said. "I didn't look like I was going for the janitor's job — that's the irony of it."

His fortune changed after taking a job with the Army by 1956. Within 10 years he had worked his way up to chief accountant for the U.S. Army Electronics Command, now the Communications-Electronics Command. Determined to be successful, he said he was usually the first person in and the last one to leave.

"I was never as smart as most of the other people, but I always worked harder," he said.

E-mail Joshua Garner at jgarner@gazete.net.