Louis 'Lee' Madere Jr., economist and lawyer, dies at age 71
10-18-2010 Times Picayune
Submitted by N.O.V.A.


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Louis "Lee" Madere Jr., an economist and lawyer who threw himself into a broad range of activities, ranging
from civil rights to historic preservation to the location of a po-boy festival, died Sunday of massive
internal bleeding at Ochsner Medical Center. He was 71.

A lifelong New Orleanian, Mr. Madere was an economist under Mayors Moon Landrieu and Dutch Morial and
executive director of the Bureau of Governmental Research. He also rode with the X-Riders of New Orleans,
who got that name because they rode Honda VTX cycles.

"He liked being involved in everything," said Martha Owen, owner of Louisiana Products Deli, the Julia
Street establishment where Mr. Madere was a regular breakfast customer. He had restored the Uddo mansion, a
nearby 19th-century town house on Camp Street, and operated it for several years as a bed and breakfast.

In 2006, he was foreman of the grand jury that indicted seven New Orleans police officers on charges
stemming from a shooting on the Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina.

Mr. Madere had written a history of New Orleans, and he was the subject of a documentary that was in the
works when he died, said Cheron Brylski, a public-relations consultant who had worked with Mr. Madere during
Dutch Morial's administration.

Much of Mr. Madere's enthusiasm for so many activities came from his family, Owen said. "They lived large."

Mr. Madere graduated from St. Aloysius High School and was involved in the NAACP's Youth Council in the late
1950s and early 1960s, said Jerrelyn "Jerre" Madere, his wife. Years later, the organization gave him an
award reserved for "Champions of the Cause of Freedom."

Last year, when he met President Barack Obama during his visit to the University of New Orleans, "that was
one of the high points of his life," his wife said, adding that her husband told Obama that he was proud to
think that his work had helped make possible the election of the first African-American president.

Mr. Madere earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Louisiana State University in New Orleans (now the
University of New Orleans).

For two years, he taught economics at Valdosta State College in Georgia until he returned to New Orleans in
1973 to go into city government. He was the director of the city's economic analysis Unit from 1976 to 1978
and the city's chief economist from 1978 through 1985.

In the late 1980s, Mr. Madere decided to go to law school because he didn't feel challenged by economics
anymore and because he wasn't able to earn a living in that field, Jerre Madere said.

So he enrolled at Loyola College of Law, where he won several awards and was elected to the staff of the
Loyola Law Review, an honor reserved for the highest-ranking students. He was admitted to the bar in 1992.

As a lawyer, Mr. Madere took on some high-profile cases, including the fight to keep the Po-Boy Preservation
Festival on Oak Street and parishioners' struggle with the Archdiocese of New Orleans over the closing of
Our Lady of Good Counsel Church. In one especially vivid moment, he stood in front of a police car and lay
on the hood to try to keep officers from taking away Harold Baquet, who had been arrested during a protest.

Whenever Mr. Madere got involved, "he would fight for the cause," his wife said. "He always said, 'Keep your
eyes on the prize.'"

In addition to his wife, survivors include a son, Eddie Madere of Florida; three daughters, Susan Becker of
Vermont, Margaret Elizabeth "Maggie" Madere of New Orleans and Katherine "Casey" Madere of Lacombe; a
sister, Margaret Ann Madere Gonzalez of Lacombe; and four grandchildren.

Visitation will be held Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Jacob Schoen & Son Funeral Home, 3827 Canal St.

A Mass will be said Friday at 2 p.m. at Holy Name of Jesus Church, 6367 St. Charles Ave. Visitation there
will begin at 1 p.m.

Burial will be in St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery No. 1.