My Father Would Be Proud
- RoShawn Winburn
- Aug 7
- 6 min read
A Dayton Weekly News Legacy Interview with Ohio State Senator Willis Blackshear, Jr.
By RoShawn Winburn
Every Thursday, a father would bring lunch to his son.
It wasn’t anything extravagant, usually just hot dogs from the stand near Dayton’s federal building, but to a young boy it became a tradition that spoke louder than words. There were basketball games in the driveway, races around the block, afternoons cutting grass side by side, and even a toy lawn mower that let a son imitate the man he admired most. Those moments would become far more valuable than either of them could have imagined.
Today, Ohio State Senator Willis Blackshear Jr. serves thousands of constituents across the Miami Valley. He advocates for economic development, education, housing, mental health, and workforce opportunities. Yet when faced with difficult decisions, his thoughts often return to those early memories, and to one simple question:
“What would my father say?”
For Blackshear, public service did not begin in the Statehouse. It began at home.
The Man Before the Public Office
Long before he became Montgomery County Recorder, Willis Blackshear Sr. was simply a young man from Dayton determined to build a different future.
Growing up in a large household and graduated from Dunbar High School in 1979. Dunbar was the city’s only historically African-American high school, named for the Dayton-born poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. At that time, the expected path after graduating was straightforward: get a good job at General Motors. For a generation of Black families in Dayton, a Dunbar diploma and a steady job on the GM line were the recognized road to a secure life.
Willis Blackshear Sr. wanted something different.
“He wanted to leave his mark on the world,” Blackshear Jr. recalled.
With little more than determination, he traveled to Nashville. He stepped in the footsteps of leaders like W.E.B. Du Bois and Congressman John Lewis by attending Fisk University, the historically Black college in Nashville. He had no money, and for nearly two weeks, he was effectively homeless while trying to enroll.
“The story sounds crazy,” Blackshear Jr. said with a smile. “But he literally just went down there, because that’s where he wanted to be.”
Eventually he met university leadership, was admitted, became a manager for athletic teams, earned his degree in political science, and returned to Dayton in 1983.
His original dream was law school in Michigan, but life had other plans.
When his mother fell ill with lung cancer, he chose family over ambition. Remaining in Dayton to help care for her, he accepted a position in the Montgomery County Treasurer’s Office. He steadily worked his way through county government before being appointed Montgomery County Recorder in 2006. He would faithfully serve in that role until his death in 2018.
His greatest accomplishments, however, weren’t titles. They were the examples he set.
“He showed love through action, not just words,” Blackshear Jr. said.
He described a father who could always be counted on, who would “give you the shirt off his back,” who never complained, and whose integrity remained constant whether anyone was watching or not.
“He always told me to be the same person in private that people see in public.”
The Nine Months
In May 2017, everything changed. Doctors diagnosed Willis Blackshear Sr. with an aggressive form of cancer. Nine months later, he was gone.
“I was there from literally the beginning to the end,” Blackshear Jr. said quietly.
The loss was devastating.
“There was definitely a lot of pain. There was shock. One minute you’re here… the next minute you’re gone.”
At just twenty-five years old, he found himself navigating grief, while the responsibilities of public office continued around him. His father’s memorial, the transition of county leadership, and countless family obligations left little time to process what had happened.
“When I finally had time to sit and think about it,” he said, “I realized my father had dreams that he wasn’t able to fulfill.”
That realization stayed with him, and so did the questions. Life suddenly felt fragile.
“It makes you think about mortality,” he said. “It makes you realize how precious life is.”
Even today, years later, he doesn’t pretend grief disappears.
“The void is still there,” he said. “It hasn’t gone anywhere. Some days are better than others.”
More Than Politics
Many people assume public office was always the plan. It wasn’t.
“Being a politician was my father’s dream,” Blackshear said. “My dream was simply to serve.”
Originally, he envisioned becoming an attorney, helping people from behind the scenes rather than standing behind a podium. Blackshear highlights an important distinction that still shapes how he approaches leadership today. “Politics wasn’t the destination. Service was,” Blacksher countered.
Whether helping a constituent resolve an issue with a state agency, securing resources for communities, supporting small businesses, or advocating for legislation, Blackshear believes elected office is temporary.
“The titles are vanity,” he said. “But the work we do has an everlasting impact.”
He measures success less by bills passed than by lives improved.
“The bread and butter of being elected is constituent services,” he explained. “When someone calls the office needing help, and we’re able to solve that problem. That’s what matters.”
Eternal Guardrails
Perhaps the most revealing moment of the conversation came when discussing how his father continues to influence his decisions.
“I always wonder what my father would say,” Blackshear admitted.
Would he approve? Would he challenge this decision? Would he think his son was still living according to the values he taught? Those questions have become an internal, eternal compass.
“He becomes my guardrails.”
It’s a striking description, not because his father is remembered only through photographs or memories, but because his principles continue guiding decisions years after his passing.
Blackshear often thinks about what his father was able to witness before he died. He saw his son become president of the Montgomery County Young Democrats. He saw him become active throughout the community. He watched him grow into leadership.
“He envisioned everything I’m doing now,” Blackshear said.
At the time, his son didn’t fully believe it.
“I’d laugh,” he recalled.
His father wasn’t laughing. He saw something his son had yet to recognize.
The Rock That Remained
Following his father’s death, another steady voice helped carry him forward. His grandfather, Claude White, became an even greater source of encouragement.
“He was that rock that kept me level-headed,” Blackshear said.
White reinforced the lessons that had already been planted: faith, prayer, humility, service.
“He reminded me to seek God first.”
It was the kind of faith handed down in Black households across Dayton for generations, where Sunday lessons became weekday habits and prayer was treated less as ritual than as a compass for daily life.
His grandfather would live long enough to watch his grandson be elected to public office, a moment Blackshear treasures. Looking back, he realizes how both men shaped him differently. While one cast the vision, the other helped sustain it.
A Legacy Still Being Written
When asked what he hopes people remember long after his time in public office has ended, Blackshear doesn’t mention legislation. He talks about inspiration.
“I want people to be more engaged,” he said. “I want them to believe that change is possible.”
He hopes young people see leadership as service rather than status. He hopes communities understand government well enough to participate in it. He hopes ordinary people realize they have the ability to make extraordinary differences. Above all, he hopes his life encourages someone else to step forward.
“If I’m better today than I was yesterday,” he reflected, “that’s success.”
There is still work to do. There are still dreams to fulfill. There are still people to serve. And somewhere along the way, a son who once followed his father around the yard with a toy lawn mower quietly became the kind of leader his father always believed he could be.
As the interview came to a close, one answer summarized the journey better than any other. If his father could see him today, what accomplishment would make him most proud?
Blackshear didn’t hesitate.
“I stayed the course.”
Lessons My Father Taught Me
Six lessons Willis Blackshear Sr. lived out, in the words and example his son still carries.
● Be the same person in private that people see in public.
● Show love through action, not just words.
● Give people the shirt off your back, and never complain about it.
● When the people you love need you, choose family over ambition.
● Go where you are called, even with empty pockets.
● Leave your mark on the world.
Editor’s Note: This story is the first installment of My Father Would Be Proud, a Dayton Weekly News series exploring the lives of community leaders whose parents shaped their character, values, and commitment to service. Future installments will include reflections from mentors, colleagues, and family members of each interviewee.
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