Chase mantra: Be kind, merciful and do for others

Being kind, merciful and hard working – words his mother taught him – have served Edgar “Dooky” Chase III well in life.

Though sometimes challenging – such as having to forgive early prejudices of Jesuit High School classmates in the 1960s who later became lifelong friends – these ingrained words and his Catholic faith kept him moving forward.

It was a credit to his parents, Leah and Dooky Chase II.

“They taught me to persevere in everything and to have faith,” Chase said. “If you persevere and work hard, things will open up for you. But, you have to pray hard and do things for others.”


For his professional work as a CPA, an attorney, an educator and for exemplifying the Jesuit education of moral character, service to others and integrity,  Chase was recently awarded the Integritas Vitae Award from his alma mater, Loyola University New Orleans.

“It is the most significant award,” Chase said. “It represents what Jesuit people should be about – people of integrity who live a life of integrity and strive to be better at what you do. It means living a self-improvement plan like Ben Franklin, our founding father, liked to do. Be a person of moral discernment and virtue. You're not going to hit it every time, but you should not stop striving to be better at who you are. That’s your identity.”

Outgoing Loyola University president Tania Tetlow called Chase a Renaissance man, “bringing the gifts God heaped upon him to every possible endeavor: soldier, lawyer, accountant, teacher, university administrator and author. Most of all, Chase brought to the world a tireless belief in the fundamental goodness of others. His optimism helped make the world live up to his high hopes.”

Education was tantamount  
Chase said his Catholic upbringing was more than going to church on Sundays with his parents and siblings.

“Every night, my mother would have us kneel and say the rosary,” Chase said. “I would look forward to it.”

He still recites the rosary to this day.

“We would go to confession every week, too, and Mass on Sundays,” he said.

His parents instilled the importance of education in him, but he had an internal quest for knowledge, even as a young boy. He remembers rising at 4 a.m. to study for lessons at Corpus Christi School, just as the Brown’s Velvet milkman was delivering chocolate milk to his parents’ household of six.

“I loved to study,” he said. “I love to be prepared.”

One of his eighth-grade teachers at Corpus Christi pushed to have schools integrated, and Chase said he was selected with several Black males, including a few from other schools, to attend Jesuit, even though St. Augustine was on his radar. He said his dad drove him to Jesuit to make sure he was OK, since it took a while for students to adjust to having Blacks as classmates. But, they eventually melded as Blue Jays.

When it was time for college, Chase aspired to attend a big school such as the University of Michigan, but his mother influenced him to attend Loyola, where he graduated in business in 1971. With many classmates from Jesuit joining him, it was easy to assimilate. He was named the first Black Student Council president at Loyola and was in an integrated social fraternity – Alpha Delta Gamma. Seeking to learn more than his degree required, Chase surpassed the hours he needed to graduate.

“I just loved to take courses,” he said.

And, to fulfill what he thought was his civic duty, he volunteered at Loyola for the platoon leadership class for officer candidate school during the Vietnam War.

He furthered his accounting studies at Columbia University in New York, earning a CPA license and beginning his career at Price Waterhouse in New York because he wanted to be an investment banker. Since he had deferred his commitment to the Marine Corps while at Columbia, he finished it in 1973 while at Price Waterhouse.

When his twins were born, Chase realized how expensive it was to raise children in Westchester County in New York and transferred home to Price Waterhouse in New Orleans. After years traveling on audits in the accounting world, he worked with Louisiana Land & Exploration Company (LL&E) and Cox Communications while studying at Loyola University Law School at night. He earned a juris doctor degree in 1983.

Chase said he’s always been enthusiastic about teaching, and while presenting a financial-planning class to college faculty and provosts from historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) at the Roosevelt Hotel, he was invited to become a Dillard University professor.

Chase eventually served as dean of the college of business and vice president in charge of master planning and facilities management. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, he was instrumental in the university’s recovery and campus rebuilding efforts.

“Dillard had a $500 million insurance policy … so it was easy for me to get Dillard back on its feet,” he said, working with FEMA and President George Bush to secure money from Congress for HBCUs.

In 2010, he retired from Dillard, where his three sons attended. He has six grandchildren.

Appreciates Jesuit education
Chase never forgot Loyola University and has served multiple terms on the finance committee of Loyola’s Board of Trustees and was committee chair. He also is a Loyola philanthropist and is proud to return to Loyola and Jesuit, where he was named the 55th “Alumnus of the Year,” to talk to students.

“Edgar Chase is a man who realizes the ideals of Jesuit education in all aspects of his life,” said Jesuit Father Justin Daffron, who will become interim president of Loyola in May. “He serves the common good through civic engagement and his family business. His deep faith is the anchor which guides him. His love of learning and community are infectious. Edgar makes Loyola proud.”

While too numerous to mention all affiliations, Chase counts the Anti-Defamation League, the Touro Infirmary board and the Metropolitan Crime Commission among those close to his heart. Others included being a board member, like his mother, on the New Orleans Museum of Art; the Friends of Lafitte Corridor, New Orleans Greenway Project; City Park Improvement Association; the Counselor Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem; Odyssey House Louisiana; the Bureau of Governmental Research; the Preservation Resource  Center; the Musical Arts Society of New Orleans; the Louisiana Economic Development Corporation; the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education; and the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

Chase also continues his parents’ legacy to further the Black arts and civil rights through the Edgar “Dooky” Jr. and Leah Chase Family foundation. His sister, Stella, is the CEO of Dooky Chase Restaurant.

“I learned from my mother and father, when you get involved in something, you have to give all of yourself to the mission or organization” he said.

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