Willie Flood, the longtime Jersey City councilwoman and educator, who participated in the Montgomery bus boycott in the 1950s, died this morning. She was 72.

Flood resigned as councilwoman at large last February, citing her failing health. In her final months on the council, she was often absent, sometimes appearing at council meetings just to vote.

?She was a great lady,? said Councilwoman at large Viola Richardson. ?And I mean that word, lady.?

Richardson served with Flood on the council until Flood?s retirement last year. Richardson said she last saw the late councilwoman when she was receiving treatment at the Jersey City Medical Center.

?She was saying to me, you know, how much she respected me and loved me,? Richardson said. ?And she was glad that I came and prayed with her. That was the last thing she said to me."

Flood grew up in Mobile, Ala, the second of 13 children. Her uncle was a Baptist preacher who knew Martin Luther King Jr.

After she moved to Jersey City in 1962, she became an elementary school teacher at School 22, where she met her husband, Phillip, the current chair of the Jersey City Incinerator Authority. Flood eventually rose through the ranks to become assistant principal of the Whitney M. Young Jr. School.

During desegregation, Flood was tapped to be one of the first non-white teachers to work in one of the newly integrated schools, and served as the district?s desegregation coordinator until 1990.

She had three children with her husband: John, Phillip II and Todd. Todd died in 1992.

She had been on the council since 2005 when she resigned last year, and had previously served three years as a councilwoman starting in 1990 after being appointed to fill a vacancy.

In 2004, Flood spoke to The Jersey Journal about her unassuming manner.

?Sometimes people think that just because I speak softly that maybe I?m not as forceful, but (the students) could tell you that I talk softly but carried a big stick,? she said.

Cotton-Parker Funeral Home, 37 Clinton Ave, said they are handling the arrangements for Flood?s funeral.

Link to JJ Story