Focus: HOPE's Eleanor Josaitis Remembered as an Advocate for the Underdog

Social justice activist and Focus: HOPE co-founder Eleanor Josaitis, who died Tuesday at age 79, after battling cancer, was remembered fondly by those who knew her.

Josaitis and Father William T. Cunningham founded Focus: HOPE in the wake of the 1967 Detroit riots. She succeeded Cunningham as Focus: HOPE executive director after he died 14 years ago, but in recent years, she had worked specifically on fundraising.

The Detroit-based nonprofit organization works for civil and human rights.

A statement on Focus: HOPE's website Tuesday said Josaitis' husband of 55 years, Donald, was by her side when she died, as were her five children and other family and friends.

"The housewife-turned-civil-rights-activist dedicated the last 43 years of her life to 'intelligent and practical action to overcome racism, poverty and injustice' as proclaimed in the Focus: HOPE mission statement," the organization said. "She became a national advocate for a food program designed to meet the nutrition needs for children and seniors; a proponent of job training programs that gave women and minorities access to the financial mainstream, and a passionate Detroiter who strove to revitalize the city and its neighborhoods.

" 'There’s no greater way to eliminate racism and poverty than to see that people have education, skills, jobs and opportunities in life,' she frequently said," according to the Focus: HOPE statement.

Writing coach Kim Lifton of Huntington Woods remembered Josaitis fondly Tuesday.

"For many years, I volunteered as a mentor for Focus: HOPE's Journalism Olympics, a scholarship competition for college-bound high school students," Lifton wrote in an email to Berkley Patch. "Eleanor was always there to greet us, and she did so by name. I have no idea how she remembered me year after year, but she did, and I was honored. I left the competition each year inspired by her passion for the underdog.

"Classy, passionate, inspiring, motivating, warm, good … just a few words to describe this amazing woman," Lifton wrote. "May her memory be for a blessing!"