"Father Dollar Bill" Maurice Chase Dies In Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Rev. Maurice Gordon Chase, a Roman Catholic priest known as "Father Dollar Bill" for his holiday cash handouts on skid row in Los Angeles, has died. He was 92.
His nephew, Robert Boyd, says Chase died of cancer on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Chase was ordained in 1953 and served in San Diego and Los Angeles. In the 1980s he began to work on skid row. For more than 30 years, he distributed money to the needy on Thanksgiving and other holidays. He usually gave out $1 bills but at times the denominations were as large as $100. Last Thanksgiving, he passed out $15,000.
The money was donated by the rich and famous, including philanthropist Eli Broad and Bob Hope's widow, Dolores.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
