Obituary of Junius Solomon

Junius Solomon passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 12, 2024, at his home in Willingboro, New Jersey, surrounded and supported by his loving family. He was 87. Junius was born on June 8, 1936, in Napoleonville, Louisiana, to Ozama Solomon and Cecelia Brown. He grew up in New Orleans and attended McDonough 35 High School. In 1954, Junius entered service in the United States Air Force. He remained in the service until 1957, when he was honorably released from active duty as an Airman First Class. Junius attended college at the University of New Orleans (at that time, LSUNO) and graduated with BAs in Political Science and Sociology. His education served him well and prepared him for a meaningful and impactful career. Junius was an advocate devoted to the causes of civil rights and equal opportunity. To those ends, he began his professional career as the Director of the Upward Bound/Talent Search Projects at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. There, Junius recruited and worked with academically talented minority and non-minority students with limited financial resources, helping to place many on the path to acceptance to and graduation from institutions of higher education. Upon leaving Virginia Tech, Junius joined the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, serving to protect and ensure equal access and opportunity for students in the nation’s schools and colleges. He worked at OCR for over two decades before retiring in 2004. Ever the student, and deeply committed to education, Junius earned a Master of Public Administration from Rutgers University in 2012. Junius’s dedication to public service and equal opportunity was surpassed only by his dedication to his family. He married Lois Swanson, with whom he had his first child, Donna Solomon, born in 1961. Junius and Lois later divorced. Sometime later, while working in New Orleans, Junius met Sandra Marchand, and the two married in 1969. Not long after, Junius and Sandra moved to Blacksburg, where they had their first son, James. In 1975, when Junius left Virginia Tech, the family moved to Willingboro, New Jersey. There, they welcomed daughter, Erika, and son, David. Junius and Sandra remained together in Willingboro for the rest of their days. Junius reveled in being a husband and father, entertaining (or torturing) his family with his bad jokes and nonsensical dancing (including his signature dance, “The DD”), and leading the way on fishing and camping trips, long road trips to Louisiana and California, and many other family outings and gatherings. For his siblings, too, Junius, the eldest, took on the role of patriarch, always calling and checking in on everyone, including their kids and grandchildren, and always teaching, supporting, and guiding. Though he left New Orleans, New Orleans never left him; he remained a fan and mass consumer of jazz and never accepted any cuisine as a rival to that of the Crescent City. Junius was preceded in death by his parents, Ozama Solomon and Cecelia Brown Mundy, his brothers James Solomon and Ozama Solomon, his sister Annie Gant, his wife Sandra Solomon, and his daughter Donna Solomon. He is survived by his children, James (Mary O’Brien) Solomon, Erika Solomon, and David (Allison) Solomon; grandsons Avery and Alexander Solomon; bonus grandson John (Melissa Draving) O’Brien; bonus great-granddaughter Maggie Obrien; siblings Rene Solomon, Susie Durant, Ethel Burnside, Cecelia (Dallas) Clark, Rose (Carl) Hutchings, Verna (Glenn) Taplin, Alvin (Edith Johnson) Mundy, Linda Mundy, and Sterling Mundy; as well as a host of nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, and cousins. He dearly loved them all, was greatly loved by them all, and will always and forever be in their hearts. That man is a success—who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who leaves the world better than he found it; who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who looked for the best in others and gave the best he had. —UNKNOWN Services for Junius will be held on Thursday, May 30, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. at May Funeral Home, 45 Pine St., Willingboro, NJ 08046. A repast will follow.