John Cruz Jr.; ran large minority-owned construction firm

JOHN CRUZ JR.

Faced with racial discrimination in Boston's building trades in the late 1940s, John "Bertie" Cruz Jr. launched his own company and made Cruz Construction into the largest minority-owned construction firm in the state.

"There was no affirmative action in 1947. There were no equal opportunities for minorities or women. He had to face some huge challenges to have that audacity as a black man, to have that vision," said his son John B. Cruz III of Boston.

Mr. Cruz, 89, died Sept. 6 at Sherrill House in Boston. He suffered from Parkinson's disease and recently had suffered a fall.

"As a child, when all the other kids were outside playing, I spent hours enveloped in daydreaming about buildings," he told The New Bedford Standard-Times in 2003, when he received a distinguished service award from Bridgewater State College.

Born in New Bedford, Mr. Cruz spent his early youth laboring in cranberry bogs and dreaming of becoming a builder, he said in the interview.

Under his leadership, his company offered jobs to minority contractors and focused on building affordable housing. The company is now in its 60th year and its management wing oversees 1,500 units in the Boston area.

Mr. Cruz was most proud of developing a 38-unit housing complex in Roxbury in 1973 known as Taurus Apartments, his son said. He was also proud of building 110-units of affordable housing in his old neighborhood in New Bedford.

Mr. Cruz was the son of Caroline (Pina) and John B. Cruz. The family later moved from New Bedford to the Cape Cod community of Onset and operated a grocery in the Cape Verdean section.

Mourners at Mr. Cruz's funeral on Friday at St. Mary's Church in Onset recalled that by the 1960s, Mr. Cruz's name was synonymous with success in the area.

"The name Bertie Cruz was a household name," said Dana Mohler-Faria, president of Bridgewater State College.

As a young boy, he was thrilled to shake hands with Mr. Cruz once in Onset. "It was important to catch a glimpse of him," he said.

Mohler-Faria said he understood decades later the reason for the excitement surrounding the lanky Cape Verdean businessman. "He provided the inspiration and the hope that we could all achieve great lives," he said.

"We do mourn him and celebrate him. Most of all, we do love him," he told the packed church, drawing applause.

Mr. Cruz went to school in Wareham as a young man and later learned carpentry, drafting, and engineering at Boston Trade School, Boston Hart Trade School, and the Franklin Institute.

His marriage to Madeline (Martin) Allen ended in divorce.

He received numerous accolades during his life including awards from the NAACP, National Urban League, Small Business Administration, the National Association of Home Builders, Channel 56's "Unsung Heroes" Award, and a distinguished service award from Bridgewater State College. A scholarship in his name is offered to minority students at the college.

In addition to his business success, friends and family remembered him as an accomplished ballroom dancer who was nicknamed "the Cape Verdean Fred Astaire."

"He loved to dance. If you wanted to dance with Bertie Cruz you had to be patient because there were always two or three women lined up at the hall to dance with him," his son John said.

In addition to his son, Mr. Cruz leaves his devoted companion, Dorothy Britto of Boston; two daughters, Faith of Cutler Bay, Fla., and Pamela Lopes of Boston; two other sons, Anthony Santio and Paul Pina of Boston; two sisters, Winneford Holford of Boston and Andrea Rose of Mattapoisett; four brothers, Richard and Daniel "Sonny," both of Boston, Wilford "FiFi" of Washington D.C., and Walter of Wareham; nine grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

Mr. Cruz was buried in St. Patrick's Cemetery in Wareham.