FLINT, MI -- Flint Community Schools’ first black superintendent and a man who helped head desegregation efforts for Grand Rapids Community Schools has died of COVID-19.

Nathel Burtley, 79, died the morning of Monday April 6, at Hurley Medical Center in Flint. He was admitted to the hospital Friday, March 20, according to family.

The longtime educator, father and Flint resident dedicated his life to bettering his community, his son, Chris Burtley, said. He called him a man of integrity.

His father grew up before Brown v. Board of Education, Chris said, noting that desegregation issues continued into the 1970s and still persist today, well after the Supreme Court ruling. Nathel Burtley graduated high school in 1958. Even into college, his classes were segregated.

“That was a big part of his life," Chris Burtley said. "He didn’t have a white classmate until college. His mom couldn’t read or write and he grew up in a house with no electricity.”

Nathel Burtley’s first degree was in speech pathology, Chris said. His father overcame a stutter growing up.

His entire life was then dedicated to teaching kids that having less and facing obstacles does not translate to their ability to succeed, Chris said.

While many would shy away from urban districts that faced additional challenges and lacked resources, Chris said his father “relished” working for inner city schools because he saw every kid in himself.

“He knew the type of environments that those kids came from,” he said. “He understood what it was like growing up without a dad. He understood what it was like growing up with a parent who couldn’t help you with your homework. He understood what it was like to be hungry going to school. He knew those circumstances because he grew up in it.”

His father was always ready to give children lunch money if they needed it because he was one of those kids, Chris said.

“That followed his entire career,” he said.

Chris, 29, is now a lawyer. He said his father taught him and the rest of their family to understand and empathize with others. Mentors encouraged him to go to college.

It is important for people to recognize the severity of COVID-19, Chris said.

“The virus doesn’t discriminate,” Chris said.

He encouraged people to continue doing what they can to prevent further spread.

Burtley’s career in Michigan

Burtley started his administrative career as an elementary school principal in Grand Rapids and briefly served as high school principal.

Before coming to Flint, Burtley served the Ypsilanti Public Schools for 5 years in both the capacities of assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction and as interim superintendent.

He was deputy superintendent of Flint Community Schools starting in 1981, before he was appointed to be the district leader in 1988. He retired from the position in 1994. After retirement he served as Michigan State University’s assistant athletic director, but he couldn’t stay away from Flint for long.

He went on to work for The Leona Group -- a school management company -- and later served as principal of Northridge Academy in Flint.

Nathel Burtley jumped into education field

Nathel Burtley wanted to get into the “midst of the action” when he jumped into a job at a Grand Rapids high school in the mid-1960s, according to The Flint Journal archives. Burtley’s even-handed and calm approach to settling tensions at the school helped boost him through the administrative ranks, and nearly two decades later, he earned the title of Flint’s first black superintendent, the article states.

“Things were jumping from a civil rights standpoint,” Burtley told The Flint Journal in 2008. “It was very charged. There was quite a bit of tension during those days, but the whole country was going through change ... and the schools were reflective of what was going on in society.”

Sheldon Neeley, now Flint’s mayor, said Burtley had a profound influence on his career and life. Burtley hired Neeley to work at Flint schools, one of Neeley’s first jobs out of college.

“Dr. Burtley was a role model, an example of everything I hoped to achieve."

Neeley said he was in awe of everything Burtley was able to achieve.

“He inspired me, and many others, to see that any one of us can make a difference and that all of us should make a difference,” Neeley said. "In life, I have learned that legacy is not about physical possessions you leave for someone; legacy is about the impact you leave in someone. Dr. Burtley was a trailblazer and a mentor who made a permanent positive impact on me and our community.”

‘You know what I’ve taught you. You should be somebody.’

Burtley wrote about being one of six children raised by a single mother in an op/ed published in The Flint Journal on Aug, 28, 1988, shortly after his appointment as Flint schools superintendent.

“When my English teacher and principal from high school literally packed me up and carried me to Southern Illinois University, my mother reminded me: ‘You be yourself. You know What I’ve taught you, you should be somebody,’” Burtley wrote.

He approached the idea of a “new beginning” for Flint schools by establishing high achievement expectations for students and staff.

For his staff, he said he encouraged them to be “imaginative, bold and risk taking.”

He stressed the importance of community and parental involvement to help address the needs of children. He said he was a product of AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children), a program administered and funded by federal and state governments to provide financial assistance to needy families. He said this made him feel a special kinship with low income families in the district.

“I understand how they entrust educators with their children, but we don’t always live up to that trust," Burtley wrote. "Sometimes we fail to meet needs because we don’t recognize extenuating circumstances that may be responsible for poor classroom performance. Often, out-of-school problems are not brought to our attention.”

He placed emphasis on helping parents and guardians develop skills at home.

“My vision for the school system is to be able to give every youngster the encouragement to go out and become all that he or she can be.

“As my mother would have put it: ‘You know what I’ve taught you. You should be somebody.’”

His love for Flint

Originally from Cairo, Illinois, Nathel Burtley embraced Michigan and made Flint his home.

He gave testimony to the United States Congress, advocating for further resources to Flint schools in 1982. In 1995, he was honored by former Congressman Dale Kildee for his work.

“Upon taking over the reins of leadership of the Flint Community Schools, he proceeded to work with the community and all employees of the district to review and completely remake the direction of the school system,” Kildee wrote in his honorary statement. “This was a system that has been a world leader in the arena of community education; but was also a district, like many others, that needed to experience changes in the way it had done things in the past in order to ensure the students who graduated were prepared for the world they were about to enter. Throughout the time that change was occurring in the system, Dr. Burtley continuously asked the question ‘Is it in the best interest of kids?’”

Burtley’s commitment to MSU began when he earned his doctorate from the school. He commuted to East Lansing every day while working as assistant athletic drrector for his alma mater, according to an article from 1995. His wife, Kathy, was teacher at McKinley Middle School, and Chris attended Doyle-Ryder Elementary School.

He was a Distinguished Alumni Award Michigan State University award recipient in 1996.

The article mentioned his son Chris, who was six year old at the time, noting that his son was already following in his father’s green and white footsteps.

"He’s taking karate, and they presented him a yellow belt,'' Burtley said proudly in the article. “He refused to take it. He said ‘Yellow? That’s a University of Michigan color.'''

Chris laughed after hearing this part of the article. He said he attended law school at UM-Ann Arbor, but stuck to his green and white roots for his undergraduate.

The family recognizes that traditional funerals are not advisable at this time, Chris said. To encourage the health and welfare of all, he said the family will hold a memorial service when the pandemic is over. To further his memory, the family is working with the Community Foundation of Greater Flint to create an endowed fund to support Burtley’s greatest passion for Flint public education and underserved youth.

“He meant a lot to people,” Chris said. “He meant a lot to me.”