A Commanding Presence: NAACP Activist Lucius Ware Dies at 91

For many people, it is hard to pinpoint exactly when they met Lucius Ware, or whether they simply knew his name before they put it to a face.

Once they did, it was one they’d never forget.

Standing at 6-feet-3-inches tall, Ware not only commanded spaces with his physical presence, but also with his intellect and passion, accompanied by a deep, booming voice that captivated a room.

He was a man of action — charismatic, assertive, magnetic and bold — known for his decades of activism on the East End as a champion of civil rights. His name is inseparable from the places, people and spaces that he has touched, from his work as an educator and administrator to his 22-year tenure as president of the Eastern Long Island chapter of the NAACP.

Ware was courageous and committed, personable and inclusive. He deeply loved his family and community. And as he moved through the world, he carried with him a sense of hope.

A pioneering advocate for social justice who called Southampton home, Ware died in the early morning hours of Tuesday, September 24, at the East End Hospice Kanas Center for Hospice Care on Quiogue following complications of cancer, according to his son, Lester Ware.

He was 91.

“He’ll never actually be gone,” longtime friend and community organizer Lisa Votino said. “He will always be out east, even 100 years from now. There’ll still be pieces happening out there that you know originated with him.”

Born on August 22, 1933, Lucius “Lou” Ware grew up in the rural town of Braceville, Ohio, where he excelled in track and field, and graduated from high school as valedictorian in 1951. His grades landed him at Central State University on an academic scholarship — until he tried out for the football team.

“After the second practice, they pulled him aside and said, ‘You are no longer on an academic scholarship, you’re now on an athletic scholarship,’ after never having played a down,” Lester Ware said, adding, “The other thing to take in, at the time that he went to school, that was still in the era of segregation.”

It would be over a decade before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law — ending segregation in businesses and public places — and when Ware traveled for sports, the Green Book was still used, Votino explained, referencing the travel guide that listed where African American customers would be welcomed.

The discrimination that civil rights activist Bob Zellner witnessed in his Alabama hometown was just as alive in Ohio, he said.

“Since I was in high school in the 1950s, I’ve tried to imagine what it would feel like to be a person with dark skin in the South,” he said. “And I thought it was just the South, but then I lived in the North enough to know that the discrimination will be felt in all of the regions of this country, because it’s so deeply ingrained in our political and social fabric.

“I think Lou will be remembered as a bulwark of determination and struggle, and he was able to take that idea and put it into gear with all the issues that were present there,” he continued, “and that takes a rare person — and that’s why he is so widely known and so widely loved.”

As a child, Ware grew up in and around the NAACP, thanks to his father, Leon, who was on the executive committee of the civil rights organization in Trumbull County, Ohio. There, he developed an interest in activism, according to his grandson, Edward Love, especially following an eye-opening incident at his home.

“Someone came to the house and they were just very scared and they were looking for help, and his dad went to help this man,” Love said. “But he just told me about the fear that this man had of going through a racial situation, and it really inspired him at a young age to want to do something.”

After graduating from college with honors in 1955, where he was president of his class and participated in the ROTC, Ware joined the U.S. Army and, in 1962, was promoted to captain in the Army Reserves. By that time, he had married his wife, Bette Davis, returned to Braceville Schools and was well into his teaching and coaching career, bringing two track teams to state championships.

He would go on to become the first African American principal in Warren City Schools in Ohio before relocating to the East End in the late 1960s to be closer to his in-laws on the Shinnecock Nation Territory. He continued his teaching career, including a stint at Southampton High School, until retiring after 50-plus years in education.

And then he took up fishing — his favorite pastime — full-time.

For two years, he was the first boat in the water and the last one out, for about 180 days annually. But that third year, his son said, tragedy struck.

“His boat blew up,” he said. “Dad would have probably been happy fishing, but God had other plans — and that’s when the activism kicked in.”

In 1996, Ware was named president of the Eastern Long Island chapter of the NAACP — having served as vice president and chairman of the branch’s education committee for two years prior — and quickly cemented himself as an ambassador who stood up for civil rights, equity and justice, according to Georgette Grier-Key, president of the Brookhaven Town chapter of the NAACP.

He would always show up, she said.

“It’s the regular, everyday citizen that could stand up for someone that they may not know because it’s the right thing to do — and not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because somebody did it for us,” she said, “and that’s the best way that I could describe Lou’s fight.”

Motivated to confront systemic inadequacies, and suggest changes and reform, Ware used his confident presence to warn those who fell short in supporting members of the local community — whether they were African American, Shinnecock, or Latino, explained James Banks, chair of the Southampton Town Anti-Bias Task Force, of which Ware was also a longtime member.

“He was loud, he was strong-willed, and his voice was resonant enough to make sure you didn’t forget what he said,” he recalled.

Ware was no stranger to town, village and school board meetings across the East End and beyond, often the first line of defense for strangers who relied on him “for life-altering issues,” Grier-Key said.

“He was trusted,” she said. “He was trusted by people and they knew that he would respond, and that takes a special type of person to show up for that mother who’s grieving that her son could have been wrongfully arrested, or that child who was not treated properly in school, or a worker who was not paid because of their status.”

Throughout her life, Leisha Ware said she saw her father as fearless. And despite the many hats he wore, he always had time for his family, she said.

“One of my greatest memories is my father took the training wheels off my bike and taught me how to ride my bike,” she said. “And I was wobbling and he was right there if I fell. I always felt safe around my dad. He was my safety net. He was my protector and my guide, and he taught me so many things.”

He also taught a new generation of leaders and activists, Votino and Grier-Key among them, along with hundreds — if not thousands — of others.

“Even if all of us only took a little bit with us, he’s still there,” Votino said. “Had Lou not been there, I think the East End would be a very different place. All you have to do is look at the rest of Long Island right now compared to out east; it’s a different world out there.”

Ware is predeceased by his wife, who died in 1970, and his longtime partner, Lyla Hoffman of East Hampton, as well as sisters Naomi Greene and Gertrude Colbert, and brother Leon Ware.

In addition to his children, he is survived by his daughter-in-law, Helen Samuels of Southampton, and his daughter’s partner, James Jancus of Middle Island, as well as a number of grandchildren.

“I always dreaded the day that he would go,” Love said. “He would drop me off at my mom’s. As a little kid, I always stayed at the window and waved to him, and I’m like, ‘I hope he gets home safe.’”

On Friday, a wake will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at Brockett Funeral Home in Southampton, followed by a funeral service on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Southampton United Methodist Church. Interment will be at the Shinnecock Burial Grounds, Shinnecock Reservation.

“He was very cognizant of the fact that he wouldn’t be here forever,” Votino said.

One day, at a conference, the topic of legacy came up between the pair and Ware encouraged her to write down what was happening around her — to which Votino laughed, ensuring him that she took notes all the time.

“No, no, no, not that,” Ware said, as Votino recalled the conversation. “You really need to be writing down your life, because you’ll get to be my age and you’ll want that legacy to continue. You don’t want to be forgotten about.”

“And I said to him, ‘No one’s going to forget you, Lou,’” she said. “‘There’s thousands of people who will never, ever forget you.’”