RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, DORIS LEACH, was born in Dyersburg, Tennessee, 20 miles from Memphis, Tennessee, and was raised in a share cropper's family of six that chopped cotton;
WHEREAS, Doris and her two sisters attended school which was made possible by her father, who negotiated with a white share cropper for months to open a school for black children;
WHEREAS, Doris admits that she was a big Day Dreamer and was taught at an early age to "hold you head up, do not talk in a bashful manner;" and who walked proudly when a school was finally opened;
WHEREAS, Doris moved to the Hyde Park area in 1948, and then to Alton, IL, but returned to Chicago in 1953 to apply for a job at Montgomery, Ward;
WHEREAS, on a Monday Doris passed a typing test for the position of Order Filler in the Catalog Division of Montgomery Ward, but there were no positions available for an African American Secretary;
WHEREAS, not to be defeated, Doris began working on that Monday as an Order Filler for the Catalog Division of Montgomery Ward, and later advanced to Merchandise Manager and Corporate Buyers Assistant before retiring in 1993;
WHEREAS, Doris met Willie Leach at a social gathering, and they were married after a wonderful courtship;
WHEREAS, in 1961, Doris and her husband Willie moved to the Greater Grand Crossing area to raise a family of three daughters and one son, at a time when African Americans were not openly welcomed;
WHEREAS, Doris and Willie decided to make a difference in their community by volunteering at Paul Revere Elementary School, working with the Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts, the local PTA, and becoming long term members of Carey Temple AME Church;
WHEREAS, in 1961, Doris joined the South Oakwood Brookhaven Neighborhood Organization (SOBO) that was founded in 1960 by Dr. Isidore and Eileen Gerst, to establish a sense of community; stability; and improvements to the area;
WHEREAS, Doris and other members of SOBO pushed for a 60% housing development and 40% parking in t...
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