death_place death_date birth_place birth_date article_title name occupation
25px new york city , new york , usa april 26 , 2004 25px north philadelphia , pennsylvania , usa november 10 , 1919 leroy myers
 leroy myers tap dancer
leroy myers

leroy myers -lrb- november 10 , 1919 -- april 26 , 2004 -rrb- was an african american tap dancer and manager of the copasetics .
he was born in north philadelphia , pennsylvania and learned to tap dance on the street corners of philadelphia .
when bill `` bojangles '' robinson died in 1949 , leroy myers and some close friends were inspired to form the copasetics , named after bill robinsons ' favorite expression , `` everything is copasetic . ''
the copasetics was a fraternity of black entertainers that were influential in the revival of tap dancing in the late 1970s through the 1980s .
leroy myers was elected as the club 's first president .
the original membership included billy strayhorn , james `` chuckles '' walker , charles `` cookie '' cook , luther `` slim '' preston , henry `` phace '' roberts , johnny rocket , pete nugent , honi coles , cholly atkins , peg leg bates , ernest brown , milton larkin , francis goldberg , frank goldberg , emory evans , elmer waters , roy branker , paul black , eddie west , and chink collins .
leroy myers moved to new york city in the 1930s and was the producer of the weekly tap jam sessions at the showmans jazz club in harlem .
he was the recipient of the 2004 honi coles reward and was going to be honored during tap extravaganza 2004 on may 30 .
he died a month before the tap extravaganza from cancer at the age of 84 .
to commemorate his accomplishments , on march 11 , 2006 the leroy myers corner street sign , on the northeast corner of 122nd street and manhattan avenue in new york city , was unveiled by leroy 's only surviving brother , walter myers .
the ceremony was attended by about 20 relatives that had traveled from philadelphia , pennsylvania , as well as harold `` stumpy '' cromer of the tap team stump and stumpy , dancer norma miller , and many others .
leroy myers was an honorary board member of the tap legacy foundation -lrb- tlf -rrb- .
on may 25 , 2006 , a commemorative plaque honoring the memory of leroy myers was presented at showmans by tlf .
