Ray West, 69, Eloquent Voice And Champion Of Civil Rights

Ray West escaped the poverty and racism of a small Mississippi town to become a civil-rights activist before the movement had a name.

"He was very idealistic and thought he could change the world," said his daughter, Kathleen West.

Born in Toldedo, Ohio, and grew up in the small town of Corinth, Miss., Mr. West died in Seattle Aug. 9 of heart failure. He was 69.

Born to a poor family, at age 7 he and his younger brother, Fred, were put in an orphanage by their mother after her husband left her.

He stayed there four years, until his older sister, Alberta, came for both brothers.

The Depression forced Mr. West to quit school to help support the family. He found odd jobs, including cleaning a brothel and working for a white doctor who owned a plantation.

His children aren't sure whether it was the doctor's educated influence or his older sister's prodding to speak correctly, but the young West developed eloquence and a large vocabulary.

"Whenever people saw my father," Kathleen West said, "they thought he was an ambassador from another country because he was so dignified and spoke so beautifully."

At the beginning of World War II, he signed up for the Navy. With a sixth-grade education, he scored in the top 5 percent on the appitude test and was sent to study diesel engineering.

After graduation, he was stationed in Bremerton.

He didn't want to return to the South because of the abuse he suffered there because of his skin color, his daughter said. So when the war ended, he stayed in Seattle to attend the University of Washington to study English and literature.

As a black man, it was difficult to fit in, said his long-time friend, Edward Jones, who later went on teach Afro-American studies at the university.

While a student at UW, Mr. West first became involved in civil-rights issues.

During the early 50's he worked with the Christain Friends for Racial Equality and the Congress for Racial Equality. He also helped create an international student organization.

"The organization brought together intellectuals from around the world who were attending the university to share ideas and cultures," said Kathleen West.

It was during college that he met his wife, Marion. She said she was attracted to him because of his charisma and idealism.

"He was a crusader," said Marion West. "He could speak right to the heart of any situation. He was very articulate and analytical."

The Wests bought a former fraternity house on Greek Row and turned it into a rooming house to provide housing for people of color from around the world.

The house was in Marion West's name because she is white and African Americans couldn't buy property in some parts of Seattle at the time.

"Having exposure (to people from all over the world) made it easier to accept different cultures," said their son, Ray West Jr. "And I suppose that's the way my parents wanted it. They believed that people would not notice the racial difference once they got to know each other as human beings."

During this time, Mr. West as a playground supervisor in Central Area schools and parks. He eventually was hired as the executive director of the YMCA's Madison branch.

In 1958 the family was awakened in the middle of the night to see a large cross ablaze on their front lawn.

"Before that there had been death threats and eggs thrown at us. But the cross-burning scared us because it was right next to our children's bedroom," Marion West said.

About this time, rumors circulated that Mr. West had communist affiliations. Soon after, he was dismissed from his job and was unable to find other work. He believed he was blacklisted for his social activism, Kathleen West said.

The Wests, unable to keep up on the mortgage payments, sold the house and move to a smaller house in the University District.

After a year, the money from the sale of the house ran out and the Wests were forced to move to Holly Park, a low-income housing project in South Seattle.

During this time, Mr. West supported his family doing odd jobs.

"In some ways, that time crushed him," said Kathleen West. But it also motivated her father to voice his anger.

"He always said it was wrong to segregate poor people. He said, `How are they going to get out of their poverty and learn to blend into the rest of society if they are segregated into one group?' " she said.

Mr. West became involved in housing-discrimination issues and was appointed co-chair of the Mayor's Commission on Fair Housing.

The family moved from the housing project when Marion West found a teaching job and was able, with her parents' help, to buy a house. The couple divorced soon after.

"It was hard on my mother," said Kathleen West. "She didn't realize the problems they would have as interracial couple, but my father was used to dealing with hard times."

Survivors include son Ray West Jr. of Sunnyvale, Calif., and daughters Kathleen West of Bellevue and Margaret West of Auburn.

Services were held Aug. 15. The family suggests no further remembrance for him than "to try to be fair, not to judge based on color or economic status, and to do what's right."