Willie Mae Wilson, St. Paul Urban League leader, dies at 79 April 26, 2021 6:19pm Text size Copy shortlink:
He was the city s first Black City Council member and later a charter school founder.
She was president of the St. Paul Urban League, the place to go if you were Black and needed to develop job skills or help to pay the rent.
Willie Mae retired in 2004 but fought to protect the Urban League s legacy until she died March 29 of heart failure at age 79 15 months after her husband s death.
They worked well as a team, son Bert said last week. Willie Mae was the pragmatist and Bill more of a dreamer. Bert would spend weekends with his mother at her Selby Avenue office and came to understand the importance of her work and the connections she fostered there.