LEON DESPRES REMEMBERED

Leon DesPres who died this week at 101 served as 5th Ward Alderman from 1955-75. That made him the only Alderman I knew during my time in Hyde Park as a U of C undergrad and afterword from 1963-73.

DesPres was a hero for those of us of a progressive persuasion. He was brilliant, passionate and unrelenting in serving the common good whether it involved his beloved 5th Ward, Chicago, Illinois, America, indeed, planet Earth.

I had the opportunity to invite him to speak at a fraternity parent-student breakfast in 1966 and he was gracious enough to accept the invitation to break bread and discuss current events with us.

Although he lived only a block from my student and later personal residence, I only saw him one other time. While driving from Hyde Park through the vast South Side Ghetto to my boyhood home on the western edge of Chicago, I spotted an elderly white couple bicycling along busy Garfield Blvd. Who could that possibly be, I thought, gazing upon such an improbable city scene. Passing the twosome I instantly recognized Leon DesPres and his wife. That was Leon, totally at ease and at home among the people he championed throughout his life.

DesPres was a one man force for good for nearly eight decades of serving the public in many different fields and endeavors. We don't see visionaries like him anymore and are much the poorer for their absence.

Also published in Chicago Sun Times, May 9, 2009