Rev. Maurice Chase “Father Dollar Bill” dies
Holiday giveaway of $1 bills to the homeless on Skid Row
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Funeral services were pending today for the Rev. Maurice Chase, a Catholic priest known as “Father Dollar Bill” for his holiday giveaways of $1 bills to the homeless on Skid Row.
Chase, 92, died Sunday night at his home in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer, according to his nephew, Robert Boyd.
“He was a really great, colorful, wonderful man,” he said.
Chase was a fixture on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles on holidays such as Easter and Thanksgiving. The homeless and poor would line up for blocks as Chase would hand out $1 bills—or sometimes larger denominations to the particularly needy.
On Easter, Chase stood outside the Salvation Army shelter and handed out about $20,000, much of which was donated by celebrities including Bob Newhart and Dolores Hope. Last Thanksgiving, he handed out about $15,000.
“I met him and knew his work,” said Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Paul Vernon, head of detectives in the Central Division, which includes Skid Row. “He was a good man and an institution in Skid Row. He will be missed not for his money but for the example that he set and the life that he lived.
“... He certainly gave with his heart. He was a very caring, sincere man who lived his life consistent with his beliefs to help the most disadvantaged,” Vernon said. “I know he had been handing out dollar bills going back over 30 years.”
Chase is survived by two sisters and more than a dozen nieces and nephews.
Gil Scott-Heron the seminal author, poet, and musician died at the age of 62 on May 27 of undisclosed causes at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York’s Manhattan borough. A funeral service was scheduled for 8:30 am, at the Riverside Church, with a public viewing in the evening from 6 to 9 pm at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home at Madison Avenue and 81st Street. Scott-Heron is survived by his wife, Blaxploitation actress Brenda Sykes, and their daughter Gia Scott-Heron.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Actor Jeff Conaway, best known for his roles in the television series "Taxi'' and the 1978 movie "Grease,'' died today at age 60.
Conaway, who appeared on "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew'' in 2008, was hospitalized earlier this month after being found unconscious in his home May 11 due to what was widely reported as a drug overdose. "Celebrity Rehab'' host Drew Pinsky wrote on his Twitter page that Conaway had not overdosed, but was suffering from a combination of pneumonia and sepsis.
Business was Don H. Barden’s the life blood.
The Inkster, Mich., native (Inkster is suburb of Detroit) launched his first enterprise at age 9, when he built a wooden stand and sold the vegetables his family raised to motorists passing by.
From that point until his death last Thursday at age 67 from lung cancer, Barden pursued his goal of showing how well a person of humble origins like his could do.
The best football player some say they ever saw—Ollie Matson—will be laid to rest some time in early March. Funeral arrangements for Matson are pending.
Matson’s nephew, Art Thompson III, a sports writer, said his 80-year-old uncle had been bedridden for years due to dementia, possibly caused at least in part to the pummeling he took as a running back over 14 seasons with mediocre teams. Matson died recently of respiratory failure.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Grammy-winning soul singer Solomon Burke, known for the 1964 hit "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love,'' apparently suffered a heart attack and died on a flight from Los Angeles to Amsterdam on Sunday. He was 70.
Burke, who was due to perform Tuesday in Amsterdam, was declared dead when the plane landed at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands, according to published reports.
