Willie Hadley, 64, community activist in Tacoma

TACOMA — Willie Hadley, a Black Panther and community activist known for his commanding presence and compassionate behavior, died June 6 after a nine-year battle with diabetes. He was 64.

"If he didn't like you, he would still help you," said Mr. Hadley's longtime friend Bobby White.

Mr. Hadley fought for equal rights and opportunities for blacks, and worked through the Tacoma School District and the state of Washington to fight against drugs and obtain better facilities for education and recreation for the poor.

Mr. Hadley was born in Little Rock, Ark., and came to Tacoma at age 11 when his soldier father was transferred to Fort Lewis.

After graduating from high school, he began working at Boeing and bought a red Corvette, said a friend, Carolyn Littles.

The car and his passion for bodybuilding helped Mr. Hadley become the first black man in the Corvette Club of America and the first featured in Muscle Magazine, daughter Michelle Hadley Charles said.

At his most powerful, the 6-foot, 260-pound Mr. Hadley traumatized Tacoma's predominantly white power structure.

"He should have been born in the Old West," said Dennis Flannigan, a 10-year veteran of the Pierce County Council who hired Mr. Hadley to help with an anti-drug program called Drug Alliance. "He was a street-smart, fists-first activist, both a saint and a sinner."

"When Willie walked up to a person who was abusing drugs and told them, 'You're going to treatment,' that was more powerful than any judge or policeman," said Lyle Quasim, chief of staff for Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg. "They knew he meant business."

In 1969, Mr. Hadley helped quell angry rioters who had begun setting fires and looting stores during Tacoma's "Mother's Day Riot."

When police, ministers and politicians were unsuccessful at calming rioters, they called Mr. Hadley, White said.

"Nobody's going to burn down my city," Mr. Hadley told them. White said when Mr. Hadley walked to rioters and told them it was over, people went home.

State Auditor Brian Sonntag, who had known Mr. Hadley for 30 years, spoke at his 64th birthday party just 12 days before his death.

"One thing about Willie was he saw good in just about everybody that came across his path," Sonntag said. "Especially when it came to young people.

"He was always ready to get them out of trouble or help them stay out of trouble or get redirected. He just had a huge heart."

Funeral services begin at noon today at the Tabernacle of Praise Church in Tacoma.