Ms. Esther Lefever, an artisan, former Atlanta Councilwoman and activist who founded a once-vibrant Cabbagetown community center, died of breast cancer Friday at Georgia Baptist Hospital. She was 60
A wake will be held Monday at Patterson & Son Funeral Home. The body will be cremated.
A Mennonite and itinerant folk singer from the mountains of western Pennsylvania, Ms. Lefever moved to Atlanta in the late 1960s and settled with her family in Candler Park.
However, she found a kinship with the largely Appalachian community of Cabbagetown, which had been devastated by the economic troubles of Fulton Mills, where many of its residents worked.
Their desperation moved her to open The Patch Inc., initially as a day-care center in an abandoned storefront in 1971. As the mill's fortunes declined and it finally closed, The Patch expanded into a community-based organization helping residents find jobs, providing financial advice, and serving as a focus for cultural events. The Patch has since closed.
After Councilman Nick Lambros resigned in 1976, Ms. Lefever was elected by the council to fill his unexpired term. One of her first acts was to vote in favor of a measure allowing audience members to speak at council meetings.
Although her tenure on the council was brief and she lost a bid for re-election, she once explained her political philosophy this way: "I had become very emotional during the mid-'60s. I decided that you do what you can, dig in and deal with government on a local basis. Ranting and raving about what is wrong does no good."
A skilled tilemaker and potter, in 1983 she opened her own business, Cabbagetown Pottery, on Boulevard in southeast Atlanta, selling ceramic crafts to gift shops across the nation while employing local residents.
The store is still in business, a testament to Ms. Lefever's boast that she would one day "blanket the nation with Georgia mud."
Among her most lasting and visible legacies are giant tile murals that grace the walls of a CSX railway building in Cabbagetown.
She remained active in Cabbaetown, and was an ally of Mayor Maynard H. Jackson during his first term in his efforts to save an elderly widow from eviction.
She later served as a member of the Atlanta Urban Design Commission and the Atlanta Economic Development Commission.
Her eldest daughter, Kristina, said her mother's life was devoted to helping the city and its people.
"She wanted to make sure everybody had the same chance to make something of themselves and make a better life," Kristina Lefever said. "She was a very caring person and had a way with people that made them feel open with her. She brought out the best in a person no matter who they were."
Besides Kristina Lefever, Ms. Lefever is survived by a son, Dimitri Lefever of Atlanta; two other daughters, Carla Lefever of Atlanta and Erika Patrick of Ellenwood; three brothers, Paul Peachey of Harper's Ferry, W.Va., and Urbane Peachey of Ephrata, Pa.; five sisters, Lois Yoder of Washington, Rhoda Moore of Silver Spring, Md., Ruth Peachey of Florence, Ala., Anna Shenk of Boston, and Jane Lind of Canada; and two grandchildren.
The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, GA, 8 Dec 1991
A wake will be held Monday at Patterson & Son Funeral Home. The body will be cremated.
A Mennonite and itinerant folk singer from the mountains of western Pennsylvania, Ms. Lefever moved to Atlanta in the late 1960s and settled with her family in Candler Park.
However, she found a kinship with the largely Appalachian community of Cabbagetown, which had been devastated by the economic troubles of Fulton Mills, where many of its residents worked.
Their desperation moved her to open The Patch Inc., initially as a day-care center in an abandoned storefront in 1971. As the mill's fortunes declined and it finally closed, The Patch expanded into a community-based organization helping residents find jobs, providing financial advice, and serving as a focus for cultural events. The Patch has since closed.
After Councilman Nick Lambros resigned in 1976, Ms. Lefever was elected by the council to fill his unexpired term. One of her first acts was to vote in favor of a measure allowing audience members to speak at council meetings.
Although her tenure on the council was brief and she lost a bid for re-election, she once explained her political philosophy this way: "I had become very emotional during the mid-'60s. I decided that you do what you can, dig in and deal with government on a local basis. Ranting and raving about what is wrong does no good."
A skilled tilemaker and potter, in 1983 she opened her own business, Cabbagetown Pottery, on Boulevard in southeast Atlanta, selling ceramic crafts to gift shops across the nation while employing local residents.
The store is still in business, a testament to Ms. Lefever's boast that she would one day "blanket the nation with Georgia mud."
Among her most lasting and visible legacies are giant tile murals that grace the walls of a CSX railway building in Cabbagetown.
She remained active in Cabbaetown, and was an ally of Mayor Maynard H. Jackson during his first term in his efforts to save an elderly widow from eviction.
She later served as a member of the Atlanta Urban Design Commission and the Atlanta Economic Development Commission.
Her eldest daughter, Kristina, said her mother's life was devoted to helping the city and its people.
"She wanted to make sure everybody had the same chance to make something of themselves and make a better life," Kristina Lefever said. "She was a very caring person and had a way with people that made them feel open with her. She brought out the best in a person no matter who they were."
Besides Kristina Lefever, Ms. Lefever is survived by a son, Dimitri Lefever of Atlanta; two other daughters, Carla Lefever of Atlanta and Erika Patrick of Ellenwood; three brothers, Paul Peachey of Harper's Ferry, W.Va., and Urbane Peachey of Ephrata, Pa.; five sisters, Lois Yoder of Washington, Rhoda Moore of Silver Spring, Md., Ruth Peachey of Florence, Ala., Anna Shenk of Boston, and Jane Lind of Canada; and two grandchildren.
The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, GA, 8 Dec 1991
Ms. Esther Lefever, an artisan, former Atlanta Councilwoman and activist who founded a once-vibrant Cabbagetown community center, died of breast cancer Friday at Georgia Baptist Hospital. She was 60
A wake will be held Monday at Patterson & Son Funeral Home. The body will be cremated.
A Mennonite and itinerant folk singer from the mountains of western Pennsylvania, Ms. Lefever moved to Atlanta in the late 1960s and settled with her family in Candler Park.
However, she found a kinship with the largely Appalachian community of Cabbagetown, which had been devastated by the economic troubles of Fulton Mills, where many of its residents worked.
Their desperation moved her to open The Patch Inc., initially as a day-care center in an abandoned storefront in 1971. As the mill's fortunes declined and it finally closed, The Patch expanded into a community-based organization helping residents find jobs, providing financial advice, and serving as a focus for cultural events. The Patch has since closed.
After Councilman Nick Lambros resigned in 1976, Ms. Lefever was elected by the council to fill his unexpired term. One of her first acts was to vote in favor of a measure allowing audience members to speak at council meetings.
Although her tenure on the council was brief and she lost a bid for re-election, she once explained her political philosophy this way: "I had become very emotional during the mid-'60s. I decided that you do what you can, dig in and deal with government on a local basis. Ranting and raving about what is wrong does no good."
A skilled tilemaker and potter, in 1983 she opened her own business, Cabbagetown Pottery, on Boulevard in southeast Atlanta, selling ceramic crafts to gift shops across the nation while employing local residents.
The store is still in business, a testament to Ms. Lefever's boast that she would one day "blanket the nation with Georgia mud."
Among her most lasting and visible legacies are giant tile murals that grace the walls of a CSX railway building in Cabbagetown.
She remained active in Cabbaetown, and was an ally of Mayor Maynard H. Jackson during his first term in his efforts to save an elderly widow from eviction.
She later served as a member of the Atlanta Urban Design Commission and the Atlanta Economic Development Commission.
Her eldest daughter, Kristina, said her mother's life was devoted to helping the city and its people.
"She wanted to make sure everybody had the same chance to make something of themselves and make a better life," Kristina Lefever said. "She was a very caring person and had a way with people that made them feel open with her. She brought out the best in a person no matter who they were."
Besides Kristina Lefever, Ms. Lefever is survived by a son, Dimitri Lefever of Atlanta; two other daughters, Carla Lefever of Atlanta and Erika Patrick of Ellenwood; three brothers, Paul Peachey of Harper's Ferry, W.Va., and Urbane Peachey of Ephrata, Pa.; five sisters, Lois Yoder of Washington, Rhoda Moore of Silver Spring, Md., Ruth Peachey of Florence, Ala., Anna Shenk of Boston, and Jane Lind of Canada; and two grandchildren.
The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, GA, 8 Dec 1991
A wake will be held Monday at Patterson & Son Funeral Home. The body will be cremated.
A Mennonite and itinerant folk singer from the mountains of western Pennsylvania, Ms. Lefever moved to Atlanta in the late 1960s and settled with her family in Candler Park.
However, she found a kinship with the largely Appalachian community of Cabbagetown, which had been devastated by the economic troubles of Fulton Mills, where many of its residents worked.
Their desperation moved her to open The Patch Inc., initially as a day-care center in an abandoned storefront in 1971. As the mill's fortunes declined and it finally closed, The Patch expanded into a community-based organization helping residents find jobs, providing financial advice, and serving as a focus for cultural events. The Patch has since closed.
After Councilman Nick Lambros resigned in 1976, Ms. Lefever was elected by the council to fill his unexpired term. One of her first acts was to vote in favor of a measure allowing audience members to speak at council meetings.
Although her tenure on the council was brief and she lost a bid for re-election, she once explained her political philosophy this way: "I had become very emotional during the mid-'60s. I decided that you do what you can, dig in and deal with government on a local basis. Ranting and raving about what is wrong does no good."
A skilled tilemaker and potter, in 1983 she opened her own business, Cabbagetown Pottery, on Boulevard in southeast Atlanta, selling ceramic crafts to gift shops across the nation while employing local residents.
The store is still in business, a testament to Ms. Lefever's boast that she would one day "blanket the nation with Georgia mud."
Among her most lasting and visible legacies are giant tile murals that grace the walls of a CSX railway building in Cabbagetown.
She remained active in Cabbaetown, and was an ally of Mayor Maynard H. Jackson during his first term in his efforts to save an elderly widow from eviction.
She later served as a member of the Atlanta Urban Design Commission and the Atlanta Economic Development Commission.
Her eldest daughter, Kristina, said her mother's life was devoted to helping the city and its people.
"She wanted to make sure everybody had the same chance to make something of themselves and make a better life," Kristina Lefever said. "She was a very caring person and had a way with people that made them feel open with her. She brought out the best in a person no matter who they were."
Besides Kristina Lefever, Ms. Lefever is survived by a son, Dimitri Lefever of Atlanta; two other daughters, Carla Lefever of Atlanta and Erika Patrick of Ellenwood; three brothers, Paul Peachey of Harper's Ferry, W.Va., and Urbane Peachey of Ephrata, Pa.; five sisters, Lois Yoder of Washington, Rhoda Moore of Silver Spring, Md., Ruth Peachey of Florence, Ala., Anna Shenk of Boston, and Jane Lind of Canada; and two grandchildren.
The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, GA, 8 Dec 1991
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