Dillard alumna Ms. Marie Jones leaves us. An educator, trailblazer and example of strength, the New Orleans native helped teach children with special needs and fought for equal pay for African American educators. Jones started her career at Valena C. Jones Elementary School, where she was a teacher and, for three years, an assistant principal. Jones taught recent Dillard guest speaker Andrew Young, who went on to become a leader of the civil-rights movement, a member of Congress, the mayor of Atlanta and the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She also taught at Dillard and St. Mary's Dominican College, and she closed out her career as principal of McDonogh No. 24 (now Benjamin Banneker) Elementary School for 17 years. ...god bless.

Read more about her on nola.com...