RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Lee Flaherty has been called to eternal life by the wisdom of God at the age of 90; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of his passing by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, Lee is survived by his daughter, Shannon Flaherty Micheletto and his former wife, Sharron Lee Gleason; and
WHEREAS, Lee was born in Indianola, Nebraska in 1931, but his mother Frances moved Lee and his older brothers Dennis and Russell to Richmond, California across the bay from San Francisco, where he grew up; and
WHEREAS, He went to work for Anderson Drug Company in 1942 until 1951 and was recognized as Top Salesman Northern California by McKesson & Robbins; and
WHEREAS, In 1951, he enlisted in the Army as a paratrooper with the 11th Airborne and spent three years in the service; and
WHEREAS, After his military service, Lee graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing; and
WHEREAS, After college, Lee came to Chicago to work for the marketing group of the Schmidt Lithograph Company; and
WHEREAS, In 1964, Lee decided to go into business for himself and founded Flair Communications in Chicago and started with three companies, Morton Salt, Accent International, and Alberto-Culver grossing $2 million in just two years with over 100 employees and offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit and New York; and
WHEREAS, Lee also did marketing for Rolls-Royce and was given a car in lieu of payment. Eventually, he was given three, with the most recent usually parked in front ofthe Flair House; and
WHEREAS, In 1977, Lee founded and sponsored the Chicago Marathon for two years until Beatrice Foods became the exclusive sponsor. As the marathon grew, its sponsorship passed from Beatrice to LaSalle Bank to Bank of America; and
WHEREAS, Lee founded the Old Pat's Worlds Largest Block Party in 1984, and founded Pets Are Worth Saving (PAWS) 4K dog Walk in 2001; and
WHEREAS, He was a lifetime member o...
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