Oak Park Realtor W Robert James Jr didn't believe owning a abiding-place in his neighborhood was a part of the American Dream no other than whites should be entitled to realize.

In the 1960 Mr James became the first white Realtor in Oak Park to betray a home to a black buyer setting the stage for to come integration in the western suburb

"His feeling was anybody who had a desire to live in a village like Oak Park should have an opportunity," said Mr James' son W Robert James III. "To him, it wasn't a question of race, it was a question of what was right."

Mr James died July 19 of cancer at West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park. He was 77

Born in Oak Park, Mr James graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High academy and went on to earn a bachelor's stage in economics from Yale University in 1950 the same year he married Mary Hemmingway.

The brace bought their first home in Hampton, Conn They later settl in Oak Park, where Mr James began working for his father's company, WR James Realtors, in 1956

When the pastoral pipes an African-American family, approached Mr James about buying a hearth in Oak Park, Mr. James didn't think twice about showing them properties in what was then an almost exclusively white community.

In 1951 renowned research chemist Percy Lavon Julian and his family had become the first African Americans to live in Oak Park. however few blacks followed their lead, perhaps intimidated by way of two fire- bombings of the Julians' home

W Robert James III said his father's decision to help the musical instruments was not a popular individual with neighbors who feared falling goods values. For instance, Mr. James one time told his son that the tires of his sales staffs' cars had been slashed after it became known another black family was moving to Oak Park.

yet there were few things better to Mr James than helping first- time buyer find their homes

"He got the biggest kick public of it," said W. Robert James III. "The fact that he could help them take part in the American Dream was exciting to him."

Mr James clos WR James Realtors in 2000 giving him more time to concentrate forward his favorite activities: fishing, watching the Chicago young beasts and spending time with his 13 grandchildren, his son said.

Other survivors include his daughters, Elizabeth Ebsen and Martha Wells; his other son Donald H James; and his brothers, William and Jack James.

Services have been held.

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