HispanicBusiness

Doris M. "Dorrie" Leader, whose contributions to the York County community are almost too numerous to count, died Monday at her residence. She was 89.

Leader, wife of York attorney Henry Leader, was involved in a wide variety of community causes, focusing on civil and human rights.

She helped the cause of desegregation of social organizations in York and participated in a professional audit of human rights in York in the 1950s and '60s.

She served on the state human relations commission.

In addition, Leader served on the York City School Board, including three years as its president, and on the local and national boards of the YWCA.

In his YorkTown Square blog, Jim McClure wrote: "A YWCA publication pointed out a particularly special skill that made her effective in community work: She was able to pull together a roomful of diverse people with diverse opinions so that at the end of the meeting everyone felt that progress had been made. 'In her words and deeds,' AAUW's 'Legacies' booklet states, 'Dorrie Leader has contributed her tremendous efforts to bring peace into the lives of those she touches.'"

Bobby Simpson, director of the Crispus Attucks Community Center, had known Leader since the early 1960s.

"She was involved in civil rights when it wasn't a popular thing to do," he said. "She took a lot of blows because of her positions, but she didn't waver. She never wavered one bit."

Leader, he said, had a deep sense of justice and fairness and in her words and deeds, always was true to her convictions.

"It's a great loss to our community," Simpson said. "She is going to be missed, no doubt about it."

Arrangements are being handled by Kuhner Associates Funeral Directors in York.