• 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-