Christine Agnes James Wilson Bass, 87, longtime Philadelphia school teacher

Christine Agnes James Wilson Bass, 87, who was among the first African American teachers to take part in a program designed to desegregate Philadelphia's public schools, died Feb. 4 at Holy Redeemer Hospital Hospice in Meadowbrook.

Born April 5, 1930 in Philadelphia, Mrs. Bass was the eldest of three sisters. She spent her childhood in New York City, but moved to Germantown to live with her grandparents after her mother died. She graduated from Germantown High School in 1947.

Mrs. Bass married Elbert Wilson Jr., whom she met during services at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia, in 1949.

Mrs. Bass attended night classes at Temple University to pursue a bachelor's degree in history while working as an accountant for the Veterans Administration in the daytime. She graduated from Cheyney University in 1962 and went on to receive her master's of science in educational psychology and counseling from Temple University.

Amid a backdrop of racial tension in America, Mrs. Bass discovered her passion for education. She began teaching history at Thomas Fitzsimons Junior High School in 1962. Three years later, she applied to be a part of the first group of African American teachers to take part in a program designed to desegregate the teaching ranks of Philadelphia's public schools. It was a role in which family members say she took pride.

In 1965, Mrs. Bass was transferred from a diverse Northwest Philadelphia school to the now-closed Leeds Junior High School in the more homogenous Cedarbrook section of the city.

"My mother was the only African American teacher in the faculty at Leeds at that time. She became a teacher at a time when Philadelphia was targeting African American teachers and other ethnic minorities to meet desegregation requirements," said Mrs. Bass's daughter, Gayle Griffin.

Mrs. Bass then worked as a guidance counselor at a number of Philadelphia schools, including Germantown High School and Martin Luther King High School. She took her job seriously, Griffin said, whether she was meeting with parents, creating students' schedules, or visiting colleges in the region to help seniors narrow down their college searches.

In 1993, Mrs. Bass retired from Germantown High School, where she had first discovered her own love of learning nearly five decades earlier. Reluctant to leave, she remained at the school as volunteer, assisting seniors with college enrollment.

Griffin described her mother as "a fierce advocate for students" for 32 years. She received numerous awards, including recognition from Germantown High School's graduating classes of 1991 and 1993 for her help matching students with colleges.

"She was very passionate about helping others and just wanted her kids and other children to be able to succeed. … That was the bulk of her career," Griffin said. "She sent a lot of children to college from underserved schools where there was a great need for help."

Mrs. Bass is survived by her three children, Gayle Juanita Wilson Griffin, Elbert L. Wilson, III and Celeste Althea Wilson, and two grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for Feb. 20 at 11 a.m. at Salem Baptist Church of Jenkintown, 610 Summit Ave., Jenkintown, Pa. Burial will be private.