John Bass laid to rest
Of the St. Louis American
Last Friday, family, friends and admirers of the late John Bass said goodbye to the former educator and pioneer politician.
On Tuesday night, he looked down at his granddaughter, Kacie Starr Triplett, the youthful politician who won the Democratic nomination for 6th Ward alderman, and was thinking “Hey, love, you did it.”
During Bass’ funeral service at St. Elizabeth, Mother of John the Baptist Parish, Triplett told mourners that Bass would often call her at college and each conversation began with, “Hey, love.”
“That ‘hey, love’ made everything OK,” Triplett said.
Calling her grandfather “Pa-pa,” Triplett said of Bass, “My heart is heavy, but I know he is in a better place.”
Retired Congressman William Clay Sr. said Bass always looked “sharp.”
“He always had on a suit, shirt and tie. He would never take the jacket off. We’d be out campaigning and it would be 85-90 degrees, but he never took off that coat,” Clay said.
Clay called Bass “a public servant who dabbled in politics.”
“He was a spokesperson for those who could not speak for themselves,” Clay said. “He never lost sight of what is important to black people.”
Clay’s son Lacy would follow Bass to Jefferson City as a state representative and then replace him as state senator when Bass joined the elder Clay in Washington, D.C.
“I remember those big, strong, honest hands,” U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay said of his relationship with Bass, a former boxer, which began when he was a boy.
“John Bass had the biggest pair of fists I have ever seen. And he knew how to use them,” Lacy Clay said.
“First, in the ring. And then, in the fight for justice and equality in the city of St. Louis and across this state.”
Lacy Clay called bass “a man of great integrity who truly loved serving his community.”
“His entire lifetime was devoted to making St. Louis a better place.”
A former student of Bass’, Regina Dennis, now U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Officer in Ghana, said Bass’ style of leadership “was one of non-intimidation.”
Attorney Margaret Bush Wilson was a member of the first campaign committee to elect Bass as comptroller. She remembered how dedicated Bass was to representing black people in St. Louis. She recalled with a laugh, “John won that election, I think to our amazement, but not his.”
Former comptroller Virvus Jones said Bass would always have a story or joke with “a punch line you would always remember.”
“John Bass was a friend, and I’ll miss him,” Jones said. “I would not have had the opportunity I did without him.”
Comptroller Darlene Green called Bass “a great man and a great St. Louisan.”
“I’m honored to follow in his footsteps,” Green said. “He would always tell me, ‘Hang in there. It won’t be easy, but you have to stand for something.’”
Bass died Sunday (Feb. 25, 2007) at the age of 80 after a long illness.
“He never stopped fighting for what he thought was right,” Lacy Clay said. “He had the rare quality of understanding the power of listening.”
Now, Bass can watch and listen as his granddaughter begins her political career.
“He told me, ‘Sometimes, you have to step on some toes; sometimes, you have to be bold,” Triplett said.
“He was my cheerleader.”