A longtime local community leader, who was particularly known for her efforts in education has died.
Iris Banister, a native of Oklahoma City was 77. She died after battling pancreatic cancer.
Banister worked in the Rochester City School District for more than 30 years in a variety of teaching, counseling and administrative roles.
Banister was involved with numerous local boards and nonprofit organizations, including serving as the former Chair of the Greater Rochester Martin Luther King Jr. Commission.
Her son now leads that commission and Simeon Banister is also president and CEO of the Rochester Area Community Foundation.
He noted on his Facebook page and in an interview with WXXI News, that his mom was also called “Queen Mother.” Banister said his parents had visited a number of countries in West Africa over the years, and at one point, in a village in Ghana, a local chief said the community there wanted to install Iris Banister as “Queen Mother,” an esteemed title, for her involvement in that village.
Simeon Banister said that education was always a big part of his mother’s life, noting that when she was a little girl she used to set her dolls up so that she could have class, “and that love for learning and love for teaching turned into her career.”
Banister added that his mom “was the kind of teacher that some might call old school, she was the kind of lady that really invested in young people, and that was both in the classroom , but it was also outside of the classroom and there were always young people that were coming to my house, as a kid growing up.”
Former City School District superintendent Lesli Myers-Small knew Iris Banister well. Myers-Small was a counselor at Wilson Magnet High School when Simeon Banister was a student.
Myers-Small said that Iris Banister demanded a lot from her students.
“You could see when she would walk into a room, she would command respect, students would literally come to attention, they would quiet themselves and she was firm but she was very fair, because she held high expectations for students.”
Myers-Small also said that Iris Banister helped her students learn about civil rights.
“And (she) would go down that rabbit hole with students and explain, 'this is why this is important, why you need to know this now, or why this is happening now. Because let me take you back, 30 years, 40 years, 50 or 60 years, here’s what was happening at that time.'”
Rochester Mayor Malik Evans issued a statement calling it “truly a sad day for Rochester,” and Evans said that Banister’s commitment and dedication to peace and nonviolence, education and multi-cultural relations will be an example to the Rochester community for generations to come.
Monroe County Executive Adam Bello also released a statement calling Iris Banister "a trailblazer in the Rochester City School District," who embodied the ideals of public service, "always seeking out opportunities to give of herself and to help others."
Funeral arrangements are still pending.
