Activist Ex-Priest James Groppi Dies

MILWAUKEE —  James Groppi, the former Roman Catholic priest who led more than 200 marches for open housing in the city during the 1960s, died today. Groppi, who had undergone surgery for a brain tumor a year ago, was 54.

As an assistant pastor in a largely black neighborhood, Groppi was arrested more than a dozen times in his campaign for an open housing law, which the city passed in April, 1968. Groppi then became active in the anti-Vietnam War and Indian rights movements, and broke with the church to marry fellow activist Margaret Rozga in 1976.