Civil rights, community activist Jeanne Quarles Tibbs dies at 83

Jeanne Quarles Tibbs died peacefully last week, leaving a long legacy of community and civil rights activism.

Tibbs was born in Boston on March, 26, 1931, the youngest child of Henry E. Quarles, Sr., Esq. and Theresa (Thomas) Quarles. The Quarles and Thomas families had a special bond that began at the turn of the 20th century in the South End, and this bond would continue for generations.

Tibbs attended high school in Boston, and as a teenager worked at various jobs with cousins and aunts at Wilbur’s Restaurant and at Raytheon Company. At the Boston Common Garage, she was the first person of color to hold a job taking care of customers. Later, she became Director of Youth Services at the YWCA in Boston.

She was a researcher for the NBC News white paper documentary, “1968”, and was a public relations director and fundraiser for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and involved with the Freedom Riders.

In her last job before retirement, Tibbs was the Area Director of the North Shore office of the American Cancer Society. She was the first African-American woman in this role on the North Shore, and loved this job, raising funds and planning events, which so suited her outgoing personality.

She married James A. Tibbs, a retired Air Force major, and the couple lived in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood. Her daughter Theresa “Kris” Anderson was raised in a loving family that included many friends and family who were drawn to Tibbs’s hospitality and generosity.

Tibbs received numerous civic awards for her contributions and leadership in many organizations during her lifetime, including the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, the NAACP and Boston Archdiocese.

During her teenage years and into her twenties, Tibbs was a member of the Archbishop Cushing Cadets and the St. Richards Drama group. The drama group was part of the only church for African American Catholics at the time. Many of the plays were directed by Tibbs’s beloved Aunt Sis. For many years Tibbs was active in the 464 Community Workshop, the Woman’s Service Group and the Boston NAACP, where she held several offices and played an important role in many of the NAACP’s national conferences.

As a resident of the Fenway area for several decades, Tibbs was a member of a number of neighborhood associations and later became a board member of the Fenway Community Development Corporation. In her later years, Tibbs was a driving force in the Over the Hill Gang, a group that brought together, once each year, people who had lived in Roxbury in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s.

Tibbs is survived by her daughter, Kris, and her son-in-law, David Roberts. She was the loving sister of the late Margaret Quarles Furey and the late Henry E. Quarles Jr., Esq. She leaves behind many cousins, nephews, nieces and friends, who will miss the light in their lives.