Willie Mae James Leake (March 13, 1932 – August 28, 1997) was an American politician from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

who served as

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

mayor of

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester is ...

from 1986 to 1991. Leake was the first female and first African-American mayor of Chester and the first female member of the

Chester city council Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Early life and education

Leake was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. She graduated with honors from

Simon Gratz High School Simon Gratz High School Mastery Charter, formerly Simon Gratz High School is a secondary school in Philadelphia, named after Simon Gratz (1840-1925), a member of the Philadelphia Board of Education. Originally a public high school operated by the ...

in 1950 and from the Eckles College of

Mortuary Science Mortuary science is the study of deceased bodies through mortuary work. The term is most often applied to a college curriculum in the United States that prepares a student for a career as a mortician or funeral director. Many also study embalmin ...

in 1952.

Career

Leake moved to Chester in 1951 and began working for the Lewis M. Hunt Funeral Home. In 1959, she opened her own business, the W.M. Leake Funeral Home, at Third and Broomall Streets in Chester. In May 1972, she moved the business to 10th and Pusey Street in Chester. The

funeral home A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral. Services ...

was purchased by the Hunt Irving Funeral Home in 2007. In 1968, Leake took her first city hall job as a receptionist for Mayor John H. Nacrelli. She became interested in politics through working as a

poll watcher A scrutineer (also called a poll-watcher or a challenger in the United States) is a person who observes any process which requires rigorous oversight. Scrutineers have the tasks of preventing the occurrence of corruption and of detecting genuine ...

at the Hunt Funeral Home. She was appointed to the Chester Upland school board and was elected to a seat on the board in 1977. She continued to work at city hall and became the administrative assistant to her predecessor, Mayor Joseph F. Battle Jr. in 1979. Leake was appointed as city treasurer in 1982 and became the first woman elected to the city council in 1983. She also served as a Pennsylvania GOP committeewoman. Leake served as a member of the Chester City Council from 1984 to 1986. She was unanimously voted to complete the unexpired term of Joseph F. Battle Jr. who left office after being elected county sheriff. Leake was mayor of Chester from 1986 to 1991. In 1992, Leake lost re-election as mayor to Democrat

Barbara Bohannan-Sheppard Barbara Bohannan-Sheppard (born June 15, 1950) is an American politician who served as mayor of Chester, Pennsylvania from 1992 to 1995. Bohannan-Sheppard was the first Democrat to be elected mayor of Chester in almost a century and the second fe ...

, ending Republican rule of Chester since 1866.

Trash incinerator controversy

A major controversy during her tenure as mayor was around the decision to build a

trash incinerator Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-energy facilities. Incineration and other high ...

in Chester. The Leake administration was developing plans to build a large incinerator able to handle 4,000 tons of trash a day. Meanwhile, Delaware County officials contracted with the

Westinghouse Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in ...

to develop a more modestly sized incinerator in Chester. While Chester officials argued that their plans for a trash incinerator were safer for residents than the one planned by Delaware County, there was also a major difference in finances where the Chester developed plant would have meant $34 million in profit for the city, while the Delaware County developed plant would only provide $2 million annually. A major public confrontation occurred between proponents of the city and county plans on April 27, 1988 at a public hearing sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (DER). Hundreds of angry Chester residents gathered in the Chester High School auditorium along with Leake and Pennsylvania representative Robert C. Wright. On October 25, 1988, Chester city council signed an agreement to allow the development of the county sponsored Westinghouse trash incinerator plant in Chester with Leake abstaining. The groundbreaking for the new incinerator plant occurred on December 15, 1988. The plant opened in the summer of 1991 and was operated by Westinghouse until 1997. It now operates as the

Delaware Valley Resource Recovery Facility The Delaware Valley Resource Recovery Facility is a trash incineration plant located in Chester, Pennsylvania. The waste-to-energy plant, which incinerates waste to generate power, was built and operated by Westinghouse from 1991 to 1997. It is ...

run by Covanta.

Personal life

Leake died of cancer on August 28, 1997 at her home and is interred at Haven Memorial Cemetery in

Aston, Pennsylvania Aston Township is a township (Pennsylvania), township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 16,592 at the 2010 census. History Aston was first settled in 1682 as a municipality and was ...

References

External links