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- The Record, Hackensack, New Jersey, Wednesday, November 26, 1997
Paterson Native Thomas Bass: Michigan Doctor, Civic Activist
Dr. Thomas James Bass, a physician and community organizer in Michigan, died Saturday. He was 87.
A native of Paterson, Dr. Bass was one of the first African-Americans to join the Washtenaw American Medical Association in Ypsilanti, Mich. He joined in 1943 after finishing his residency at Trinity Hospital in Detroit.
"Because of segregation, no one would hire him," said his nephew, Carmen Benson of Paterson. "But Ypsilanti was interested in him, so he decided to make his mark there."
In addition to his work in medicine, Dr. Bass was former president of the Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, through which he fought for civil rights in the area. He also co-founded the Huron Valley Boys and Girls Club and received numerous community service awards.
Dr. Bass was a general practitioner who delivered more than 1,300 babies during his years in practice. He also was chief and former secretary treasurer of the medical staff at Beyer Memorial Hospital in Ypsilanti.
He was a charter member and former chairman of the Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor Business and Professional League and was one of the first members of the Ypsilanti Human Relations Commission.
A graduate of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn., Dr. Bass completed his internship at Freedman's Hospital at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he continued his education with postgraduate work in venereal disease control.
He also received a master's degree in public health at the University of Michigan and an undergraduate degree from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
In addition to his nephew, Dr. Bass is survived by a son, Michael Bass of the Bahamas; two daughters, Ann Bass-Berutti of Ypsilanti and Leah Bass-Baylis of Van Nuys, Calif.; a sister, Mary Emma Benson of Paterson, and six grandchildren. His wife, Louise, died in 1991.
Arrangements were by Lucille's Funeral Home, Ypsilanti. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Thomas and Louise L. Bass Scholarship Fund, c/o Brown Chapel AME Church, 401 South Adams, Ypsilanti, Mich. 48197.
Michigan Newspaper, 18 November 1997
Dr. Bass died at age 90
Ypsilanti physician made mark as humanitarian and rights advocate
as city?s first African American doctor.
By Karen Joseph, News Staff Reporter
YPSILANTI ? Dr. Thomas Bass will be long remembered in Ypsilanti, where he made an imprint as a humanitarian and the city?s first African-American physician.
Bass died Saturday evening. He was 90.
?You could sum it up by saying that the community has lost a great man ? the African American community and the city as a whole. He was well-known and loved,? said City Council-woman Trudy Swanson.
Although Bass left Ypsilanti two years ago to move in with his daughter in Van Nuys, Calif., he made frequent visits to the city. He kept in close contact with people here, the people he connected with throughout his career.
Bass fought for civil rights in Ypsilanti.
He was the first African-American physician to join the Washtenaw County Medical Association. A doctor who delivered hundreds o Pysilanti babies, Bass once served as the chief of staff at Beyer Hospital.
Swanson was a patient until the day Bass retired.
?He delivered me at Beyer Hospital in 1961,? she said. ?He was a very good doctor.?
Swanson and others remember Bass for his patience and his generosity.
?He was especially generous in the balck community,? she said. ?If you were black and you didn?t have money, he would see you anyway.?
Bass came to Ypsilanti in 1943, having just graduated from the Meharry Medical School in Nashville. He enrolled in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan.
But he didn?t move to Ann Arbor. Ypsilanti, he said, was more accepting of people of color.
After graduating from YU-M, Bass established a medical practice on Hamilton Streeet in Pysilanti, where he stayed until 1995.
While in Ypsilanti, Bass was a member of Brown Chapel AME Church. He was active with the Ypsilanti-Willow Run branch of the National Association for the Advencement of Colored People and the Ann Arbor and Pysilanti Business and Professional League.
He is considered instrumental in the construction of Parkview Apartments on the city?s south side. He also helped found the Huron Valley Boys and Girls Club.
Bass was a mand of medicine, but also a man for the community, said the Rev. Jerry Hatter, pastor at Brown Chapel AME Church. ?He saw himself as a man who could make a difference, and he certainly did that,? Hatter said. ?He lived his life with a sense of purpose.?
Aside from being a good doctor who served the community, Dr. Bass was a good person, said Hatter. ?I remember him as a very loving man. He cared about people.?
His wife, Louise Bass, was an eighth-grade math teacher at East Middle School, which was then East Junior High School.
?It was just a relationship that grew and grew,? said Shirley Brown, a lifelong Ypsilanti resident. ?I grew to love them.?
Arrangements are being handled by Lucille?s Funeral Home in Ypsilanti.
1950 Federal Census of Ypsilanti, Washtenaw County, Michigan (1 Apr 1950)
Thomas J. Bass Jr. Neg 39 M Head NJ Medical Doctor Medical Treatment
Louise Neg 30 F Wife AR
Michael T. Neg 2 M Son MI
Anne E. Neg 2 F Daughter MI
Thomas (Wd) Neg 78 M Father WS
(WS ? West Indies)
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Bassett Family Association Database
1909 - 1997 (88 years)