Attorney Lawrence E. Smith, who opened a law practice over a Walgreen's
drug store at 63rd and Cottage Grove Avenue in 1953, and went
on to mentor many African-American lawyers, died May 8, 2000, after a battle
with Alzheimer's disease.
Visitation will was at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 13, followed by a funeral
mass at 1:30 p.m. at St. James Cathedral, 65 E. Huron St., Chicago.
In 1941, Smith moved to Chicago from Springfield following his sister,
Laura Ward. He studied pre-law, Henry Ward. Smith later enrolled at the
John Marshall Law School, which had a night program that allowed him to
work by day in Chicago's steel mills. He graduated in 1948.
It was during that time that Smith joined Funference, the forerunner
of Core (Council on Racial Equality), and took part in restaurant sit-ins
in an effort to break the color codes. Smith would relate stories to his
children about the days when his sister, of fair complexion, could sit
on the main floor at the neighborhood movie theatre, but he would have
to sit on the balcony because he was darker in skin color.
Smith established his own law firm at 35th and State Street
in the early 1950s with his wife, Virgie, and his sister, the late Vera
Kibby, working as his secretaries. He later moved the office to 63rd
and Collage Grove Avenue, and family to the Hyde Park Bank Building at
53rd and Lake Park Avenue. When illness forced Smith to leave
his practice in 1989, he turned it over to his daughter, Linda Smith, who
continued the practice until her death in 1998.
Smith was a founding member of the St. Clotide Parish Council, and later
was a vestry member at St. Margaret of Scotland Episcopal Church. He was
a former board member of the Cook County Bar Association.
Smith is survived by his widow, Virgie J. Smith, of Chicago's Chatham
neighborhood; sons Jeffrey Lawrence Smith of New York, vice president of
business and legal affairs of Lifetime Television in New York, and Rory
Dean Smith of Floosmoor, associate dean for institutional advancement and
planning at The John Marshall Law School; two granddaughters, Elizabeth
and Elise Smith; daughter-in-law Eva Smith; sisters Jean Proctor of Peoria,
IL., and Mary Anna Bills of Cleveland, Ohio, and many nieces and nephews.
Contributions in his memory can be made to the Lawrence E. Smith and
Linda S. Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund at the John Marshall Law School,
315 S. Plymouth Ct., Chicago, Illinois, 60604.