By Rebecca Goodman
Enquirer staff writer

KENNEDY HEIGHTS - Tony Drake, a Methodist minister, social worker and civil-rights activist, died July 23 while visiting his sons in Portland, Ore. He was 90.

A licensed independent social worker, Mr. Drake was a counselor for the Emanuel Community Center in Over-the-Rhine from 1964 until last year. He also worked as a part-time social worker for Cincinnati Public Schools.

During his 37 years as a pastor, he worked to desegregate the administration of the United Methodist Church during the 1950s and 1960s.

"For the last 10 years, he was actively engaged in the struggle for full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the life of the Church," his wife, Ruth, said. "He was quiet and unassuming but very dedicated to his principles. And he had thoroughly enjoyed working with people both as a pastor and as a social worker."

Mr. Drake marched for civil rights with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Montgomery, Ala., in 1965. He went to Washington to join the Poor People's Campaign in 1968 and, closer to home, drove groups of welfare recipients to Columbus to petition legislators for adequate benefits.

He was also a pacifist who protested the Vietnam War in Washington in 1970.

He was born in Ossining, N.Y., in 1914. "Tony's parents came from Greece and the family name was Drakos," his wife said. "But his father went into business in New York and customers couldn't handle that, so everybody called him Mr. Drake, so Tony grew up as Drake. But when he applied for a passport and got his birth certificate, he discovered his name was Drakos."

He kept Drake as his surname. But all four of his children legally changed their names to Drakos.

Mr. Drake received a divinity degree from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill., in 1948.

He was a pastor in Toledo and at Maineville United Methodist and Nast-Trinity United Methodist in Over-the-Rhine.

He also received a bachelor's degree in political science in 1942 and a master's degree in social work in 1959, both from the University of Michigan, and a master's degree in community planning from the University of Cincinnati in 1976.

Mr. Drake was recognized in 1997 with a lifetime achievement award from the 5,300-member Ohio chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

Mr. Drake was a member of that organization, serving at one time as chairman of the Nominations and Leadership Identification Committee and, until his death, on the Peace and Justice Committee.

He was involved in the Model Cities program and organized the Uptown Basin Council, which became the Over-the-Rhine Community Council.

In addition to his wife of 59 years, survivors include: a daughter, Elaine Drakos of Cincinnati; three sons, Nick and David Drakos, both of Portland, and Paul Drakos of Santa Fe, N.M.; two sisters, Beatrice Fleming and Alice Drake, both of San Francisco, and four grandchildren.

Mr. Drake's remains were cremated and scattered by his family on Mount Hood in Oregon. A memorial service is 4 p.m. Aug. 29 at Clifton United Methodist Church, 3416 Clifton Ave.

Memorials: Clifton United Methodist Church, 3416 Clifton Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45220, Methodist Federation for Social Action, 212 East Capitol St. NE, Washington, DC 20003 or Emanuel Community Center, 1308 Race St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.