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WILLIAM BELMONT
Mr. Belmont was born in St. Louis, Missouri on August 13,1927. He is married to Mildred Belmont and their anniversary is June 4th. He is a member of Morning Star Baptist Church, where Rev. Garfield Hubbard is Pastor. Mr. Belmont is ambitious, responsible, honest, conscientious, loyal and resourceful. He has two sons, Alexander Jones and William Belmont Jr., and one daughter, Brenda Belmont. "I hope that I have inspired them to achieve in education, family resourcefulness and togetherness as a family." "My greatest personal achievements are my strong family ties and raising my family. I set out to do this as a young man and this is a great achievement to me. "An adversity in my Iife was when I lost my mother at age 21. It was very hard for me to adjust, for we were very close. She was mother and father to me. It was traumatic. The idea of not having her to talk to, just devastated me. "My occupation is Director of Buildings and Grounds for the City of East St. Louis. What I like best about this occupation is helping people move into standardized housing units which are decent for living." Memberships: 32nd Degree Master Mason, Past Potentate of the Shriners, Tyree Consistory 64, No. 2 Officer in my lodge of the Masons. Hobbies: Spectator sports and working around the house. My favorite TV programs are THE COSBY SHOW, MCNEIL-LEHRER SHOW, and THE GOLDEN GIRLS. My favorite books are technical books on building and building methods for they enhance me in my day-to-day activities. Instance of discrimination: was the first Black Director of the Civil Defense in the city of East St. Louis and Southern Illinois, I had to go into many small communities and deal with the people, many of who had never worked with Blacks. By being very astute and knowledgeable in the field of Civil Defense, I was able to handle all situations as they arose and gained the respect of co-workers. Childhood punishment: "Back when I was growing up, the only thing we could do was to play softball. When I was disobedient, I had to stay in the house and not get out and play ball. That would just kill my soul. An amusing incident: "My in-laws used to go to the movies, two or three times a week, before television. They would talk loudly all through the movie. We would sit about ten rows back of them in the movie, and we could hear every word they said. All of our friends would "jone" us about it; but that was their style. He'd say, 'He oughta know somebody's behind him with a gun.' She'd answer, 'Ain't it a shame. He oughta know that.' A comment for everything that was happening. They really enjoyed the movies." "I live in East St. Louis, and in spite of adversities, the city tends to survive and the people to have faith in one another." WILLIAM BELMONT
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