“The heart of Cassopolis.”

“A truly great man.”

“The most generous person you could ever meet.”

These are all ways that Gerald Hart, Cassopolis’ first African American village president, has been described by those who knew him. Hart, 77, died May 20 after a prolonged illness. Now, those who knew him best take time to remember him and the impact he had on Cassopolis.

“He was an extraordinary man,” Hart’s wife, Lois said. “To tell you all about him would take an entire book.”

Hart was elected as village president in 1972. He served until 1974, when he chose not to run for reelection.

“It was quite a thing when he became [president]. It was very big,” Lois said. “People don’t tend to like change.”

Hart was elected in the early 1970s, the height of the civil rights movement. Racial tensions were high in the 1970s as African Americans became frustrated with a lack of economic improvement, despite civil rights advancements, according to the White House Historical Association. Much of the tension from events in the late 1960s also still lingered.

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. In 1967, the 12th Street riot in Detroit became known as one of the deadliest and most destructive riots in U.S. history. Many Black Panther offices were raided and members arrested in 1970.

Though those who lived in Cassopolis at the time said that race relations were not as fraught there, instances of overt racism did occur, according to Hart’s daughter, Kelli Fiala, who was a teenager during Hart’s term as village president.

“At the time, black people couldn’t go to the barbershop to get their hair done,” Lois said. “Black people couldn’t go the movie theater here or bowl in the bowling alley.”

It is because of this climate that those who knew him consider Hart’s election historic and important.

In 1972, the rest of village council was still white, as was the Cass County Board of Commissioners.

“He had to fight for everything he did,” Lois said.

Hart brought his personal values of honesty and fairness to his role as village president. He always put Cassopolis first, earning him the respect of his constituents and colleagues, Lois said.

Though his election as village president was historic, most remember Hart for the ways he was involved in the community even after he was no longer president.

“[Hart] had tremendous respect in the community,” Former Sheriff of Cass County Joe Underwood said. “Any time there was a project going on in the community, if you needed some help or you needed someone to go to, to help move things along, Gerry was that person. He knew a lot of people.”

Underwood was both the first African American sheriff of Cass County and a friend of Hart’s. Hart served as Underwood’s campaign manager in 1988 and 1992.

“People really believed in [Hart],” Underwood said. “If he told you he was going to do something, he was going to do it, and do it right.”

Frank Williams, who served as Cassopolis police chief from 1974 to 2016, said Hart was a good leader in the community, generous and very supportive of the Cassopolis Police Department.

“If you went to him, [Hart] always wanted to help out in the community,” Williams said.

Since Hart’s turn as village president, Cassopolis has seen many African American elected officials, including Underwood, Williams and current Cassopolis Village President David Johnson.

“If [Hart] had come in with a divisive attitude, it would have polarized the community back into black vs. white,” Johnson said. “But he handled the position so well and fought so hard to make things better in Cassopolis, it made it much easier for people to just look at a candidate’s credentials and ideas instead of what color they were.”

Hart is survived by his wife Lois, four children, Kelli Fiala, Robyn Smith-Woods, Brett Hart and Tommy Beauchamp, and many grandchildren.