* Frederick Jones; Oxnard Civil Rights Activist

Frederick Jones, who spent the last 40 years as a civil rights activist in Oxnard, died Wednesday at St. John’s Regional Medical Center. He was 69.

Jones, who lost a leg to diabetes eight years ago, died of heart failure. His wife, Iantha, said he never fully recovered from a heart attack in August, despite several operations.

Jones, a former three-term president of the Ventura County Chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, fought to integrate Oxnard schools and was instrumental in getting the first black teacher and firefighter hired in the county, said John Hatcher, president of the local NAACP chapter.

More recently, he was involved in efforts to name an Oxnard elementary school after the late Thurgood Marshall, the black Supreme Court justice.

Jones was born June 21, 1929, in Nashville, Tenn. He graduated from Pearl High School in 1948 and enlisted in the Navy two days later. He was assigned to duty on Guam and Hawaii. He was discharged in 1952 and came to Oxnard.

There, he worked at the post office, ran a nightclub called The Top Hat, operated an employment agency and worked for the county as its affirmative action officer. He retired 13 years ago.

He married Iantha Martin 30 years after they dated in high school and four years after he ran into her during a trip home to Nashville.

Jones admired Martin Luther King Jr. and sought to carry out his dream locally. “He thought he was wonderful,” said his wife. “He would go wherever he could to hear King speak.”

In the early 1970s, Jones signed onto a lawsuit filed by Juan Soria to desegregate Oxnard schools.

“That was one of his major fights,” Hatcher said. “He felt that as long as the African-American kids and others lived in La Colonia and schools on this side of the railroad tracks were getting all the funds--the best equipment and best books”--something had to be done.

Soria won the lawsuit, which resulted in court-ordered busing.

Friends described Jones as a man constantly on the lookout for ways to make society more just. When he wasn’t campaigning for a cause or trying to get black Americans more involved in politics, he was writing letters to the editor.

“Fred was a no-nonsense person,” Hatcher said. “He wanted things, and he wanted them to happen right now.”

Added Mexie Duff, who fought alongside Jones to name the Oxnard elementary school after Marshall: “He was a very intelligent, articulate person who worked really hard to bring about changes he felt were necessary for equality.”

Jones is survived by his wife and several nieces and nephews.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Conrad Carroll Mortuary in Oxnard. A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Oxnard.