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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
COMMEMORATING THE LIFE AND REMARKABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF MICHAEL IVERS
WHEREAS, Michael Ivers, passionate and tireless advocate for the poor, former Catholic priest, Chicago Housing Authority Board Commissioner and beloved community leader died at the age of sixty-nine on October 24, 2016 leaving behind countless friends, family and a community profoundly enriched for having known him; and
WHEREAS Ivers was born and grew up on the South Side of Chicago. He was a lifelong Catholic and attended Catholic grammar school and later attended what was then Quigley Preparatory Seminary South. He continued seminary studies and later earned an undergraduate degree at DePaul University in Chicago. He studied at Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary and the Institute of Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University in New Orleans; he spent over twenty seven years as a Catholic priest; and
WHEREAS, Michael Ivers served as pastor at several West Side churches during his twenty-seven years as a priest for the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. He spent his active ministry teaching at Quigley and in Chicago's African-American community, especially as Pastor of Saint Agatha Church in North Lawndale. He was a much loved priest and assiduous advocate for the community. He organized efforts to combat gangs and helped run the country's first scattered-site resident management organization. He fed homeless people every Sunday, lobbied in Springfield for legislation and conducted a gang intervention program causing some gang members to put a contract out to kill him; and
WHEREAS, in addition to his pastoral duties Michel Ivers also became a well-respected leader in the broader community. He chaired the advisory board of the Fantus Health Center, part of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System and was appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley to serve as a Commissioner on the Chicago Housing Authority Board. While at the CHA he oversaw the demolition of CHA h...
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