• STUART, FL - Willie E. Gary,
the on of a Black sharecropper,
learned early on the value of
hard work. At age 9, Gary joined
spot on the football team substi
tuting for an injured player and
eventually a scholarship.
Graduating with a busin
degree in 1971,
Gary went on to
North Carolina
Central Univer
sity to earn a law
degree in 1974
and opened the
first Black law
firm in Martin
Cou nty, Florida.
Gary has built a
formidable repu
tation as one of
the nation's fore
most personal in
jury and medical
ma}p@ctice.attor
ney while also
serving as Gen
eral Counsel to
the Reverend
J Jackson.
Willie Gary's
press clippings
read like the stuff
of Lotto dreams:
"Jury Awards 3.1
Million, " "Boy's
Family Awarded 8.1 Million,"
"Willie Gary & Team Win
$16,250,000." But the headline
grabbing victories he claims, are
not dreams come true - they are
salvaged from nightmares. He is
a plaintiffs attorney and his job,
while incredibly profitable, is
one of.the most difficult a lawyer
can hav .
WILLIAM' GARY
his parents and siblings in the
fields, picking beans and corn in
the Florida afternoon while at
tending school in the mornings.
Years later, with $15 in his
pocket, Gary boarded a bus to
Raleigh, NC to try to secure a
football scholarship. Turned
down because the t am was
filled, Gary stayed, making ajob
for himself cleaning the locker
room. Persistence earned Gary a
IT REVOLVE AROUND
everyday folks in the midst of
the worst tragedies imaginable.
Putting a price tag on uch
things is a rather grizzly con
cept. But Gary, the 46-year-old
head of Gary, Williams, Parenti,
Finney, Lewis & McManus says .
he believes in the value of what
he does, and the record shows
. that few, ifany, do it better.
As a payback for giving Gary
a chance to escape the dead end
poverty of his youth, his alma
mater, Shaw University, will
now receive a 10 million gift
from Willie Gary and his wife,
Gloria. "But for Shaw," he ex
plained a day after returning
from a dinner at the White
Hoi ,"I'd have never gotten
the chance to do what I'm doing
now.
Gary has been profiled as Per
son of the Week on ABC's World
News Tonight with Peter Jen
nings. Other profiles include Eb
ony, Black Enterprise, People,
New York Times, Boston Globe,
and Guidepost magazines.
Robin Leach's Lifestyles of the
Rich & Famous featured Willie
Gary. and family on a segment
aired over 178 television sta
tions nationwide in October,
1992.
On Saturday, January 22,
Willie E. Gary collected yet an
other national honor when he
appeared on network television
with America's top entertainers
and athletes at the NAACPs'
26th Annual Image Awards.
irst of " e ica
mi lion to comm
ledges $
nity ban
tential sites for redevelopment initiati
First of America's investment is contingent
upon th community development bank meet
ing the necessary legal and regulatory require
ments. Along wit� the 1 million commitment
from First of America B Ilk, organizers have
estimated the need to raise an additional $12 to
$14 million in capital to start the bank. First of
America's W t Michigan affiliate has also com
mitted to upporting a similar development
bank in the Grand Rapids ar .
First of America B nk Corporation was on
of the first bank holding compani in Michigan
to form a Community Development Corpora
tion, in order to mak non-traditional invest-
men in nomic nd 1 evelopment proj
Such projects typically do not qualify or conform
to traditional bank lending criteria.'
Firs of America Bank-Soutbwest Michigan
is th $4 billion t bank . rving Wayne,
Oakland, M comb and Lapeer counties through
90 full service branch . First of America Bank
Corporation ntly announced that First of
America Bank-Southeast Michigan and First of
America Bank-Security, the 2 billion affiliate
bank located in Southgate, would be merged
later in the year.
F' of Am rica Bank Corporation, with as-
ts of mo than 21 billion, is headqua red
in Kalamazoo, Mi., and mana 20 affili ted
banks wi h 572 offi in Michigan, Illinois and
Indiana. T corporation offers a wide-range of
financial rvi including tru ,mutual fund,
cr it card and'mortga banking, to custom
cro th nation.
I.
First Home?
First Home Mortgage? .
First Federal
SOUTH AFRICAN MIN
ING conglomerates reigned
over the critical diamond and
gold industri . The South Afri-
n r.·
Forrest P. Branch, a southern
Africa expert at Afric re, a
Wa hington-based group that
monito African political and
economic development, aid
South African-based busin
were likely to be the moat imme
diate beneticiari of heightened
economic cooperation because
they're already in tronger po-
ition. "The scale of operation in
South Africa in all secto of
busin is unmatched in any
place on the continent," Branch
id, "That level of investment
attracts the multinational in-
tment. The mMs may have
small offices in Malawi but the
lion's share of production is done
in South Africa. "
Still, Branch said he believed
southern Africa would become
more alluring to foreign inves
tors, He ranked it more attrac
tive than Mexico and Central
America already, partly because
of South. Africa's improved im
age and modern conveniences.
� Loan tart Pr -Quali fi You For ortga
B fore You Buy Hom.
The fiN -tcp t()\\MU hU\ln� that horne I" w hen \OUl heck \\ uh Jm
Firvr Federal office and rcquc t a free � LOJI)'-;(.tr{ "Pr<.:-(jIIJlltllJtIClP Certificate,"
Once �ou have it, it tell" the seller vou'rc J "enou" huvcr. That' a bi� cduc,
no the � Rate Protccnon Plan Olio .kv-in" vour mort�age interest
at a \Cr) compctiuv c rate. 'I'hat'x pCJCC 0 mind, Sec the friendly people
at Fir't Federal for octad". 'l'hcv make hnancuu; vour fiN horne
the la't thiru; yuu have to worr, about.
inan ing
u lif ation. An th r Big Id fr m Fi t F d r J of i higan,
ichigan' RiAA t S ving In tituti Sin 1 34.
(5) in ( : 1 II W w d v 'nil', D -tnnt, 1irhilotan 1:!2 Ph n :(313) 5·14
Li 'R n)1 In ured I 'fl. h h·d III MI(
DETROIT - First of America Bank-South
east Michigan, N.A." announced a $1 million
commitment to the community development
bank proposed by Wayn�.County.
Richard R. Spears, president and chief execu
tive officer, indicated, "This is the first formal
commitment from a financial institution to sup
port the proposed community development
bank, that we are aware of. Our 1 million
pledge has been initiated to provide the impetus
for additional funding to capitalize tb hank,
This commitment is consistent with our phi
losophy of proactively supporting community
development. It also compliments other revi
talization initiatives crass our delineated mar-
et area. Our "Outstanding" Community
Reinvestment Act rating igned by the regu
latory agencies is indicative of this ongoing com-
mitment," S rs stated. ,
Community development banks differ from
more broadly-based financial institutions in
that they focus exclusively on the needs of low
to moderat ineom neighborhood which re
quire redevelopment and revitalization. These
�alized banks typically include a non-bank
estate development arm and a non-profit
affiliate that provides non-bank busin credit,
b in upport servi ,and ho ing i -
tance.
o a a conduit to
mobilize neighbOrhood resources and rve as a
commwlity talyst for furth r inv tment nd
developm nt. Th or�niz� of the pro�sed
bank ha tentatively identified the east Ide of
D troit, Hamtramck and Highland Park as po-