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262 West King Street
ACCORD Freedom Trail |
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Inscription. Leo C. Chase, Sr., who
had previously managed the Huff Funeral Home in Lincolnville, opened one of
the oldest businesses in St. Augustine, this funeral home in 1955. His son,
Arnett Chase, took over after his father's death in 1977. Another son, Leo C.
Chase, Jr., was the first St. Augustinian killed in the Vietnam War, and a
nearby park was named in his honor in 1965.
During the 1960s, this was a place of sanctuary for civil rights activists who were subjected to harassment in St. Augustine. The funeral home's ambulance was used to take marchers to the hospital when they were beaten in the downtown area. Dianne (Mrs. Arnett) Chase took part in the demonstrations that led to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. There were many black elected officials in St. Augustine in the decades after the Civil War, but the shooting of black alderman John Papino by a white city marshal during an official meeting in 1902 was the act of terror that put an end to black political office holding for more than 70 years. Arnett Chase made history in 1973 when he was elected to the city commission as the first black elected official in modern times. In 2008, a Chase limousine went to the Jacksonville airport to pick up the Rev. Dr. C. T. Vivian, one of Dr. Martin Luther King's closest associates. Vivian returned
to St. Augustine--where he had been beaten and arrested while
leading beach wade-ins and demonstrations in 1964--to address the second
annual Freedom Trail Banquet sponsored by ACCORD. This Historical Marker
Presented this 2nd Day of July, 2009 by Northrop Grumman
Erected 2009 by The 40th Anniversary to Commemorate the Civil Rights Demonstrations, Inc. (ACCORD). Location. 29° 53.432′ N, 81° 19.867′ W. Marker is in St. Augustine, Florida, in Saint Johns County. Marker is on West King Street, on the right when traveling west. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg)  
A Life Given
To everything there is a season, and a time
to every purpose under the heaven;
A time to be born, and a
time to die;
A time to plant and a time
to pluck up that which is planted;
Eccles.
3: 1-2
Leo C. Chase Jr., the son of Leo C.
Chase Sr. and Pauline C. Chase, was born on June 30, 1942 in Jacksonville,
Fl. He came forth at this time for a
specific purpose that only he could fill.
As we look back at his life and all
the events as they unfolded, we see that Leo was on a “fast pace” all of his
life. It is only now that we understand
that his life’s pace was that way because he would only be here for a very
short period of time.
Early in his childhood you could see
that he had a zest for life. He was
always happy and wanted to see those around him feel the same way.
Leo began his formal education at
the St. Pius Catholic School in Jacksonville, Florida. Although living in Jacksonville, he spent
most weekends and breaks from school in St. Augustine at the Huff Funeral Home
where his father was employed as Funeral Director. His father later opened his own place of
business, the Chase Funeral Home and it was there that Leo first displayed his
lack of fear of the dead by offering to escort two adult ladies who were afraid
to enter the chapel, to view the remains of their friend. Leo was sitting in the lobby when he over
heard them speaking of their fear. He
walked over to the ladies and offered to escort them in. He was only 5 years old at the time. The ladies were so embarrassed by the fact
that a small child had more courage than they had, but they allowed him to walk
them in. This act was probably his
introduction into the family business.
Leo continued his formal education
and moved on from the St. Pius Catholic School to the Davis Street School
(renamed Isaiah Blocker). During this
time he continued to travel to St. Augustine as often as possible.
In his 9th grade year, he
met Richard Black. This meeting
developed into a life long relationship and a bond closer than some blood related
members. They were best friends and did
everything together. From that point on,
when Leo left for St. Augustine his friend Richard Black was there with him. In St. Augustine, Leo had another friend
David Thomas that he also spent time with.
David lived just behind the funeral home and spent a lot of time at the
funeral home.
Leo and Richard moved on from Isaiah
Blocker to the 10th grade where they attended the 45th
St. High School. It was there that Leo
and his friend Richard were instrumental in the renaming of the school to The
Northwestern High School and it’s team the Yellow Jackets, with black and
yellow being there colors. They knew of
Northwestern in Miami and they thought that since their school was located in
the northwest part of town that Northwestern would be a very fitting name. Their suggestion was accepted and the school
was renamed Northwestern.
After the school was renamed, Leo’s
father took Leo and Richard shopping where they had a school jacket designed
for the two of them. These jackets
served as the models for the schools team jacket. They proudly wore those jackets and received
a lot of recognition because of them.
For the remainder of their high
school times, Leo and Richard were in the same home room. They both joined the football team and were
members of the “Y”. Their popularity
soared around the school.
In the evenings just to pass the
time, Richard, another friend “A.C”, and Leo would get together under the
street light and sing all of their favorite tunes. Richard recalls that they thought they were
pretty good! Somehow word got out about them singing and during lunch they
would get called to the stage to perform.
They thought they were stars!!
During their senior year, Leo was
named best dressed by his class. This
was an honor that he really appreciated because he had always taken pride in
his appearance.
After
graduation, Leo returned to St. Augustine where he worked at the funeral
home. Although working there, his zest
for life could not be contained in the walls of the funeral home. His desire to make a difference was expressed
by his joining the U.S. Army in 1963.
In 1964
Leo Sr. became ill. Both Leo and his
older brother Arnett were away in the Army.
There father needed someone to come home and assist him with running the
business. Leo Jr. made a decision that
Arnett, who was drafted into the Army prior to Leo joining, but whose entry was
delayed until after his departure because of mortician certification, should be
the one to return to assist in running the business. A request was made to the Army and in May of
1965 Arnett returned home.
The Viet Nam campaign as it was
called was pulling a lot of our youths from home. Leo left to fight a war that was never called
a war that nobody understood, against a people that he didn’t know, in a place
that he knew nothing about but he had to go…he had to go because it was HIS
destiny. We all have a place called
destiny that we must go on a date we will not miss. Leo met his destiny with only 5 days left in
the country. Normally you would be
pulled from duty in that time frame but these were not normal times.
Before Leo left, he did what he had
done all his life, the thing that he did best, the thing that I feel he was
placed here to do…he gave! He gave us
something that we can hold on to forever.
He gave us something far greater than his presence could have ever
given.
Leo C. Chase Chase was a rifleman in Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry. He flew into Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley of South Vietnam, near the Cambodian border. The helicopter troops were immediately attacked by thousands of soldiers of the 320th, 33rd and 66th regiments of the North Vietnamese Army in a battle that lasted four days. Outnumbered nearly 10 to 1, Chase and the other members of his platoon bravely repulsed many massive ground assaults from the Viet Cong, all the while taking fire from enemy snipers.  |
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