Leah Chase Biography
Leah Chase was an American journalist, News Orleans chef, and television personality. She was referred to as ‘The Queen of Creole Cuisine’ because she knew both African and American arts and creole of cooking. She also had her own restaurant called ‘Dooky Chase,’which was highly liked by many. The restaurant also served as a gathering place during the 1960s for people who participated in the Civil Rights Movement. As in 2018, it was named to be one of the most important restaurants of the past 40 years by Food and Wine.
Leah Chase Age and Birthday
Chase was born on the 6th of January, 1923, in New Orleans but spent her childhood in Madisonville, Louisiana. She used to celebrate her happy birthday on the 6th of January every year. She died at the age of 96 years.
Leah Chase Early Life
Leah was born in a Roman Catholic family where her family members have devoted Christians. Her father was a caulker at the Jahncke Shipyard, and her grandmother worked as a nurse and midwife. She was born into a family of eleven children. The family used to grow peas, okra, and greens. The children also helped in cultivating the land that their father had left after dying. Leah’s family was left with tears and gloom after losing her mother, grandmother, and great grandmother on the 1st of June, 2019.
Leah Chase Education
Leah Chase went to a high school choir at Xavier and later proceeded to Xavier University Junior School of music, where she studied voice and piano.
Leah Chase husband and Children
Leah Chase got married to a musician, Edgar ‘Dooky’ Chase2, in the year 1946. Their marriage was blessed with three daughters, namely, Stella Reese Chase, Emily Chase Haydel, and Edgar Chase3. She was also blessed with sixteen grandchildren and twenty-two great-grandchildren.
Leah Chase Career
Immediately after completing high school, Leah had many jobs, such as managing two amateur boxers, and she became the first woman to make the racehorse board for a local bookie. Her most loving job was working as a waitress at the Colonial Restaurant in a French Quarter, New Orleans. Chase started working as a restaurant server during the 1950s. Later on, Leah and Dooky possessed the restaurant and made it a sit-down establishment.
Leah Chase as a Chef
Leah married a local musician, Edgar, whose father had opened a street kiosk selling lottery tickets and his wife’s homemade sandwiches. The couple, later on, took over the ownership of a restaurant, which was earlier a local gathering place. The restaurant was one of the most public places in New Orleans where people of different races could meet and have discussions about the strategy for the local Civilian Rights movement. The fact that those gatherings were illegal, Chase’s popularity and fame made it difficult to restrict and control those gatherings. Leah also found it very interesting to cook for the Black Voter registration campaign organizers, the NAACP backdoor, who had political meetings at her restaurant.
Leah Chase Net Worth
As a restaurant waitress, Leah was paid handsomely. She used to earn a net worth of $14.7 million as of 2019.
Leah Chase Quotes
- Everyone can cook
- You’ve got to live life to the fullest. You just enjoy every beautiful thing there is to enjoy
- You worry too much about what goes into your mouth and not enough about what comes out of it.
- I tell people all the time; you have to be in love with that pot.
Leah Chase Music Talent
Besides being a journalist and a waitress, Leah is also a musician. She cited how her father and her mother influenced her singing talent. As a growing child, she realized her music talent after getting praises for performing a dance, and later on, she was called upon to sing and dance at various occasions. Leah engaged herself in a school choir at Xavier Prep, and she studied voice and piano at Xavier University Junior School of Music. She got more experience in singing after singing in the New Orleans Recreation Department Theater production of Hallelujah Baby. At Loyola University, Leah Chase got a degree in vocal performance and also participated in the Jazz band.
Leah Chase Death
After so many ambitions and achievements in her life, Leah finally died on the 1st of June, at the age of 96. The funeral mass was contacted at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church, which was marked by the spirited gospel from the choir, ‘Peace in the Valley.’ The burial was attended by many people, including family members, friends, and colleagues who came to pay last respect to Leah. Leah was highly remembered for running a family restaurant where meetings of civil rights strategies were conducted during the 1960s.
Leah Chase Wiki
- Full Name: Leah Chase
- Date of Birth: 6th of January, 1923
- Death Age: 96 years old
- Nationality: American
- Citizenship: American
- Religion: Christian
- Height: Unknown
- Weight: Unknown
- Sexual orientation: Straight
- Marital Status: Married
- Spouse: Edgar Dooky
- Children: Stella Chase Reese, Emily Chase Haydel, and Edgar Chase
- Profession: journalist, chef, musician
- Salary: Unknown
- Net Worth: 14.7 million
Frequently asked questions about Leah Chase
Who is Leah Chase?
Leah Chase was an American journalist, musician, News Orleans Chef, and television personality.
How many years did Leah Chase live?
Leah lived a total of 96 years before she died.
Was Leah Chase married?
Leah got married to Edgar Dooky, a local musician, in 1946.
Did Leah Chase have children?
Leah’s marriage to Edgar Dooky was blessed with three daughters, namely, Stella Chase Reese, Emily Chase Haydel, and Edgar Chess2.
How much was Leah Chase’s net worth?
Chase used to have a net worth of 14.7 million as of 2019.
Leah Chase contacts
- YouTube
- TikTok
- Website
References
We value and acknowledge the following media for information access during the writing of this article.
- Wikipedia
- IDBM