MANSFIELD – Wayne McDowell, a lifelong civil rights attorney and educator in Mansfield, died at his home on Wednesday. He was 78 years old.
A graduate of Mansfield Senior High School in 1960, McDowell fought his entire life against racial and sexual discrimination in the city and also in the state prison system where he taught.
In 2020, despite ill health, McDowell and the Black / Brown Coalition he founded successfully pushed for a “code of conduct” agreement between the community and the Mansfield Police Department.
The black and brown coalition, signed in late September, and the city are five-page codes that set out standards of behavior that both residents and officials should adhere to when interacting with one another.
“After so many years of striving to improve police-community relations by eradicating the Mansfield Police’s bad apples, efforts to improve the relationship through an agreed code of conduct for police and community when they interact with one another” seemed to be a novel approach worth taking, “McDowell said during a signing ceremony at the Mansfield Central Park Gazebo.
Wayne McDowell watches Mansfield Police Chief Keith Porch sign the Code of Conduct on September 28, 2020.
“However, this approach will only work if the respected parties meet each other’s requirements in the Code of Conduct,” said McDowell, pointing out that police and community members must be willing to point out wrongdoing on either side.
“I cordially invite all police and the entire community to make a commitment to read, read, and comply with the Code of Conduct,” said McDowell. “If we all do this, I believe that relations with the police and the community will improve significantly.”
McDowell was born on July 13, 1942 to the late Leon Lafayette and Agnes Elizabeth (Jefferson) McDowell in Mansfield, a town he called his hometown all his life.
Wayne McDowell
McDowell entered college in 1962 while working full-time and commuting to Ohio State University and the University of Akron. He earned a bachelor’s degree in labor economics from OSU in 1969 and a master’s degree in adult education in 1972, also from OSU.
He began teaching at the Ohio State Reformatory in 1967, retired in 2000 after 33 years of service, and completed his career at the Mansfield Correctional Institution. McDowell was the first to teach in the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s Ohio Central School System for 30 years.
McDowell dedicated his life to the NAACP, where he was a lifelong member serving on behalf of the NAACP, Civil Rights Advocate, in the Ohio State Reformatory’s Counsel for Human Dignity. He was a member of the Ambassadors For Christ Church, where he served as a deacon.
McDowell is survived by his two children A. Dante ‘and Tamara D. McDowell, Cleveland; three brothers, Melvin (Dovie) McDowell, Akron, Wyatt (Sherry) McDowell, Douglasville, Georgia, and Harrison (Delores) McDowell, Mansfield; Brother-in-law Lawrence Parsons; and sister-in-law Emily McDowell, Mansfield.
In addition to his parents, six siblings, Hazel Parsons, Doris, Calvin, Betty, John and LeRoy McDowell died before McDowell.
Private memorial services are held on Friday at 11 a.m. at Providence Baptist Church. Pastor Mark Cobb will officiate and McDowell’s Pastor Elder Scott Logan will deliver the laudatory speech. Friends can call church from 9:30 am to 10:30 am. The funeral will take place in Mansfield Cemetery.
Williams Funeral Services takes care of the services.
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