Willard Jones was a pioneer in race relations

Willard Jones of Minneapolis was a leader of young Democrats, an aide to governors and the first black Minnesotan selected as a delegate to a national political convention. In the late 1950s and early '60s, Jones served as an aide to Gov. Orville Freeman, and for a short while to Gov. Elmer Andersen.

The former real estate developer and St. Paul city housing employee died on Jan. 20 in Minneapolis of complications from diabetes. He was 90. During the 1956 Democratic National Convention, when Jones was pledged to Adlai Stevenson, school desegregation was a volatile issue and national anti-lynching legislation was being considered. In the Feb. 20, 1956, Tribune, Jones admitted that at first he was disappointed by Stevenson's "moderate stand" but that he came to understand it. Stevenson took a position similar to the extremely popular incumbent, President Dwight Eisenhower, and the NAACP.

Jones, an Omaha native, was raised at Nebraska's Boys Town from the age of 3.

He became a railroad porter and moved to the Twin Cities about 70 years ago.

In the 1940s and '50s, he rose through the ranks of the Young DFLers in south Minneapolis.

Jones designed a lapel pin for the national group, and in 1955, he became chairman of the 5th District Young DFL organization.

In 1959, he led the Minnesota contingent at a Washington march seeking school integration, and he also led a fair housing march, fundraiser and education campaign in Minneapolis.

"He had the attitude that nothing was too much to do," she said. It didn't matter what party you belonged to or who you were, Jones helped everyone, she said.

Jones knew how to work with people and get things done, but he was no cupcake, said Jack Puterbaugh of Isanti, a former DFL state leader and former Minnesota liquor control commissioner.

"Willard stood his ground when it came to matters of race," said Puterbaugh.

In the mid-1950s, Puterbaugh and several DFLers, including Jones, tried to enter a bar in northwestern Minnesota after attending a party conference.

Jones was refused entrance because he was black. Gov. Freeman was due to arrive any minute.

"They backed down," Puterbaugh said.

In 1964, Jones, then the only black Realtor in the state, received the Twin City Council of Clubs' President of the Year award. In 1967, he began work for what would become St. Paul's Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

Jones retired from St. Paul city government in 1983.

At 79, he served as president of the Powderhorn Community Council, and with others, worked to get Brown Krause Manor built in south Minneapolis.

Jones was married and divorced twice.