‘This is his homegoing': Life of San Diego trailblazer Leon Williams honored
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Dozens gathered Friday to celebrate the life and legacy of the late Leon Williams, one of San Diego's most remarkable public servants and civil rights leaders who passed earlier this month at the age of 102.
A trailblazer as the first Black member of both the San Diego City Council and the county Board of Supervisors, Williams was instrumental in the city's growth in the late 20th century, championing everything from public transit to desegregation through equitable city planning.
'His legacy is expansive,' his youngest son, J.J. Anderson, said at the services. 'He loved San Diego, he loved the county of San Diego and he gave his entire life to this county.'
The array of mourners packed into Calvary Baptist Church in Logan Heights for the funeral was a testament to this service, spanning former and present elected officials, community leaders and loved ones.
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'You can feel my father's love. People knew that he was a real person,' Anderson said. 'He all felt that we all had enough and so we should try to help other people have what we have.'
Born in Oklahoma, Williams arrived in San Diego in the 1940s for a job at North Island Naval Air Station. After a deployment in a segregated unit during World War II, he graduated from then-San Diego State College on the G.I. Bill.
While he quickly fell in love with the area, he moved to the city during the height of San Diego's Jim Crow era, a period where many businesses refused to serve Black residents and neighborhoods in the city had restrictive housing policies to keep minority groups out.
Williams did not take these indignities sitting down. As a student, he participated in protests like sit-ins at segregated restaurants with his peers. In 1947, he defied a 'whites only' housing covenant in Golden Hill by purchasing the home he lived in through the end of his life on E Street.
Now, that block bears his name, having been officially dedicated as 'Leon Williams Drive' in 2017.
As a public official, Williams advocated for the development of local transit and the city's downtown, the revitalization of Balboa Park, removal of redlining policies from the city's land use codes, and changes that encouraged community-oriented policing, among other things.
'I'm very grateful to the community for coming out and showing love,' Anderson said of the turnout at the funeral. 'My father would be very happy.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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