[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 18494]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         RECOGNIZING LEAH CHASE

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I rise today to ask my colleagues to 
join me in recognizing the 90th birthday of the ``Queen of Creole 
Cuisine,'' Mrs. Leah Chase of New Orleans, LA.
  Mrs. Chase was born in Madisonville, LA on January 6, 1923, and moved 
to New Orleans as a teenager to attend high school. It was in New 
Orleans that she developed her love for food and feeding others. Mrs. 
Chase married her husband, Edgar ``Dooky'' Chase Jr., in 1946, and they 
took over the family business--one of the best-known and most 
culturally significant restaurants in New Orleans, Dooky Chase's.
  Mrs. Chase has cooked for jazz royalty, like Duke Ellington; for 
heads of state--among them Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama; 
and for the civil rights movement's greatest champions, like Justice 
Thurgood Marshall and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And though she is 
well-known for having catered to America's history makers, perhaps her 
greatest achievement is having quietly created a community where people 
are taken care of, no matter their situation in life. Mrs. Chase always 
takes care of those in need. She makes it a point to know not only the 
names of her patrons, but also their stories. And that feeling of a 
closely knit community where people look out for each other is why New 
Orleanians have been dining with Mrs. Chase for three generations. They 
are family to her, just like her four children, sixteen grandchildren 
and 22 great-grandchildren.
  Mrs. Chase has received too many awards to mention. Among them are 
the 1997 New Orleans Times-Picayune Loving Cup Award, which annually 
recognizes citizens who have worked unselfishly for the community 
without expectation of public acclaim or material reward; the National 
Conference of Christians and Jews Weiss Award, which is presented 
annually to four outstanding community leaders who have been 
influential in promoting the advancement of social understanding and 
care; and the National Council of Negro Women Outstanding Woman Award. 
In addition to earning numerous awards, Mrs. Chase serves on the boards 
of many non-profit organizations, including the Arts Council of New 
Orleans, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Urban League.
  Mrs. Chase has been and continues to be an inspiration to all who 
know her. It is with a heartfelt sincerity that I ask my colleagues to 
join me along with Mrs. Chase's family in recognizing the life and many 
accomplishments of this extraordinary woman.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.

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