Jack Alexander was a community pillar and groundbreaker in Topeka. He died Monday at 93.

Jack Alexander Sr.'s ability to bring people together helped pave the way for other African-Americans to gain key positions with Topeka's city government.

Alexander, who was elected in 1973 as Topeka's first Black city commissioner, died Monday morning at age 93.

Alexander was a "really wise man" and "a pillar of the community for a very, very, long time," said current Councilman David Banks, who is Black.

"It's going to be a great loss to our community to not have him around," Banks said.

Alexander was an "icon" of this community, said John Nave, a Black man who served on the Topeka City Council from 2003 to 2007.

"He built relationships with people all across the community, which in turn opened lots of doors," Nave said.

Alexander's wife of more than 71 years, Matilda "Tillie" Alexander, died last September.

Services are pending. Kevin Brennan Family Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Alexander's commission race supporters came from across the spectrum

When Alexander ran in 1973 for Topeka water commissioner, he created a full-page newspaper ad listing people who endorsed him, The Capital-Journal was told in 2020 by attorney Michael Lennen, who helped with that campaign.

“If you look at that list, you see people from across (the spectrum) of ethnicity, gender, age, occupation, political affiliation," said Lennen, who is white. "People with a host of backgrounds all signed on, the most prominent of which was (former Kansas governor and Republican presidential candidate) Alf Landon."

Alexander won that election and held the water commissioner's office until Topeka voters in 1985 switched forms of government from one featuring a city commission to one featuring a city council.

Alexander later served on the Topeka City Council from 1990 to 1991.

His success helped pave the way for James McClinton to become Topeka’s first Black mayor, a position McClinton held from 2004 to 2005.

Alexander continued to play a key role in this community in recent years, said Banks.

Banks said when he decided to run for the council, the first person he talked to was Alexander.

He said Alexander gave him "lots of direction" with his campaign, and Banks was elected last year to the council seat representing southeast Topeka's District 4.

Alexander played on Topeka High Ramblers all-Black basketball team

Alexander was born in Iola and grew up in Topeka, where he graduated in 1949 from Topeka High School.

He was the last surviving member of the Ramblers, the all-Black boys basketball Topeka High School maintained before it began allowing Black players in 1950 to play for the Trojans, a team that was previously all white.

“When I grew up, as far as I was concerned, Trojans didn’t mean anything to me,” Alexander told Trojans basketball players in 2021. “All I ever wanted growing up was to be a Rambler. The Trojans didn’t exist to me."

Serious consideration wasn’t given to merging the two teams until that was requested by Dean Smith, a 1949 Topeka High graduate who went on to become a college basketball coaching legend at North Carolina.

“That’s just how Dean was,” Alexander told the Trojans in December 2021. “He was one of my best white friends growing up, and the only thing he cared about was winning, even then. He didn’t care what color you were or what you looked like. He only cared about if you could help the team win.”

Alexander attended Washburn University for two years, served in the Navy from 1952 to 1956, then worked for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. before winning election as water commissioner.

He later worked in the water protection bureau for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, served on the Kansas Corporation Commission and was acting state fire marshal.

Alexander also served as vice president of the local United Way and the Topeka chapter of the NAACP, president of the board of Shawnee County Community Assistance and Action Inc., and was a member of the board for what is now Stormont Vail Health.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Groundbreaking Topeka public servant Jack Alexander dies at 93