Uncrowned Community Builders

Mr. Donald Dade was the current Executive Director of CRUCIAL: Human Services, a community center located on the East Side of Buffalo. This was only the latest position he had held while serving the residents of that community. Over the course of a fifty-year career Mr. Dade has dedicated his life to serving those in need.

In 1943, Donald Dade volunteered in the U.S. Army, during the height of World War II. Even though the discriminatory practices of the Armed Services at that time prevented him from being treated with the dignity he, and so many of his fellow African American soldiers, deserved; he served with distinction and honor. His service in the Pacific theatre, with a support unit attached to the infantry, was a distinguished one and he was decorated for his actions on several occasions. He was ultimately made a non-commissioned officer before being honorably discharged in 1946.

Following the war, Donald Dade attended Northwestern University and Michigan State University, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree and Teaching Certificate. He then entered Syracuse University, where he earned a Master's Degree in Citizenship and Public Affairs. During the time Mr. Dade was enrolled as a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps and earned a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the newly formed U.S. Air Force.

In 1948, President Harry S. Truman issued the Executive Order that desegregated the Armed Forced and Mr. Dade was one of the first beneficiaries of this program. He was invited to become an instructor of Political Science at the United States Military Academy, and taught there for several years. In that time he was not only an instructor but a mentor to many of the small cadre of African Americans cadets who attended West Point during his tenure there.

In 1954 Donald completed his military service and left with the rank of 1st Lieutenant. He then moved to Chicago and again returned to teaching in his civilian life. After two years he left teaching to take a position with DuPont Denemours and was transferred to Buffalo in 1960. In 1966 Mr. Dade took a position with Neighborhood Legal Services and Public Defender during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Then in 1969 he took the position of Labor Chair for Affirmative Action with the Minority Coalition. While there he continued to advance the causes of disenfranchised residents and help free them of the oppressive bonds imposed on them by segregation and discrimination.

Mr. Dade's advocacy for people left behind by society expanded to include those in prison, in 1972 he became an investigator with Erie County Bar Association Indigent Prison Program. During his two-year tenure he was instrumental in helping prisoners integrate back into their community by offering them educational opportunities and the skills necessary to find a job. He continued his work as the Executive Director of Phoenix House from 1974-1979. Phoenix House is dedicated to assisting inner-city ex-offenders find jobs after they get out of prison while they reintegrate back into their old neighborhoods. This was an important cause to Mr. Dade; he felt that programs like this were fundamental to the struggle to break the cycle of poverty that many in the African American community were now being forced into.

By the end of 1979 Donald had become Executive Director of the Buffalo Community Development Organization. It was at this time that he began to focus on the causal factors of anti-social behavior that often lead one to a life of crime. Working in the capacity he developed a variety of programs that addressed the issues that made life in Buffalo's inner city extremely difficult. By bringing attention to housing discrimination, poor educational opportunities for minority children, inadequate job-training for those enrolled in entitlement programs and the needs of the elderly he helped shape future community development policy in Buffalo for the next two decades.

In 1986 he was asked to take the helm of the Buffalo Triad Housing Corporation. This allowed him to focus specifically on the issue of housing. Mr. Dade. Worked with residents in order to help them from homeowners associations developed micro-loans for potential homebuyers and helped generate even greater public awareness in the area of housing discrimination against people of color and women.

In 1991 Mr. Donald Dade was prepared to retire, after offering almost half of century of service to his nation and its communities. But, when the position of Executive Director of CRUCIAL: Human Services needed filling Mr. Dade did not turn his back. At 65 tears old he assumed the role and ushered this fledgling community center through its most significant overhaul since its opening. He successfully negotiated a deal between CRUCIAL and the City of Buffalo to have the abandoned school at Genesee and Moselle converted into a new community center for use by CRUCIAL. Donald also made CRUCIAL: a fundamental component of the Weed and Seed program when he made it one of three Safe Havens the program named.

Mr. Dade oversaw the move of CRUCIAL was the Master Ceremonies for the official Grand Opening of the new center in October of 2000.
Mr. Dade has made a number of other contributions to the City of Buffalo beyond those of his professional life. He was Chairperson of the Weed and Seed Steering Committee for three years, a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, a past director of Erie County Citizens Commission on Criminal Justice and a member of the Buffalo Police Department's Citizen Advisory Board.

In recognition for his contributions Donald Dade has been recognized in various capacities by N.A.A.C.P., the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Coalition on Community and Justice, the City of Buffalo, Leadership Buffalo and the U.S. Attorney's Office of Western District New York. All of these agencies have felt the impact of Donald Dade's exemplary work and dedication.

He is survived by his wife of 35 years, the former Joyce Rogers; two daughters, Gretchen Dade of Buffalo and Red Zoe of New York City; a son, Byron Dade of Auburn and a grandson.

Mr. Dade's memory will live on through the innumerable contributions he has made to the City of Buffalo and its residents. The counsel he gave to so many will be dearly missed as will his optimism and dedication.