Rev. James Orange, 65; marched with King

ATLANTA - The Rev. James E. Orange, 65, a lieutenant of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference who worked alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement, has died.

Mr. Orange, who lived in Atlanta, died Saturday at Crawford Long Hospital. He had suffered complications from gallbladder surgery, his daughter, Jamida Orange, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

"We have lost a great soldier in the struggle for freedom and equality," said Edward Dubose, president of the Georgia branch of the NAACP.

He marched in his hometown in 1963 alongside King and the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy to help integrate facilities and transportation.

Mr. Orange was project coordinator with the SCLC from 1965 to 1970. Later he became a regional coordinator with the AFL-CIO in Atlanta.

Since 1995, Mr. Orange served as the general coordinator of the Martin Luther King Jr. March Committee-Africa/African-American Renaissance Committee. The organization coordinates the country's most watched and attended events of the King national holiday. It also promoted trade between Atlanta and the United States with South Africa.

To listen to excerpts from a 2002 interview with the Rev. Orange in Philadelphia, go to http://go.philly.com/jamesorangeEndText