“Far better it is to dare mighty things,
to win glorious triumphs,
even though checkered with failure,
than to take ranks with those poor spirits
who neither enjoy much nor suffer much,
because they live in the grey twilight
that knows not victory nor defeat.”
‐‐Theodore Roosevelt‐‐ Interred
Lake View Cemetery
12612 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio
cátÄÅ EF
The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord FOREVER.
September 5, 1922 ~ March 30, 2012
Tuesday ~ April 10, 2012
Acknowledgement
The Madison Family wishes to thank everyone for their kindness, generosity, and love during this time
of sorrow. The loss of our Beloved Leatrice will be felt in our hearts forever. Your love and support
remain our light in darkness. Thank you for your many prayers and may God bless all of you.
Final Arrangements Entrusted To:
E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home
2165 East 89th Street – Cleveland, Ohio 44103
15357 Euclid Avenue – East Cleveland, Ohio 44112
25900 Emery Road – Warrensville Hts., Ohio 44128
(216) 791-0770
Glen-Cor Publishing & DeZign (216) 233-7072
“We Dare 2-B Different”
Leatrice B. Madison
5:30 PM
Cleveland Botanical Garden
11030 East Boulevard
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
In Memory of
Leatrice Lucille Branch Madison
Rev. Dr. Taylor T. Thompson – Officiating
Ms. Ayeshah Douglas – Soloist
Musical Prelude ..........................................................................................................................................................
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Tribute ............................................................................................................................
The Links Incorporated Tribute ................................................................Cleveland and Western Reserve Chapters
Opening Vespers ......................................................................................................... Rev. Dr. Taylor T. Thompson
Musical Selection .............................................................................................................................. “Rock of Ages”
Tributes .................................................................................................................. Congressman Louis Stokes, Esq.
Audley Mackel, MD
Jean Sarlson
Musical Selection ....................................................................................................... “I Come to the Garden Alone”
Tributes ..........................................................................................................................................Steven D. Bullock
Juliette B. Madison
Julian Earls, PhD.
Family Reading ............................................................................................................................Jeanne M. Madison
“The Final Chapter” ~ by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Musical Selection ........................................................................................................... “In the Sweet Bye and Bye”
Benediction ................................................................................................................. Rev. Dr. Taylor T. Thompson
~ Reception ~
In 2004, Leatrice and Robert along with family and friends established the
Robert P. Madison Scholarship in Architecture
to expand educational opportunities for young people.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you make a contribution to the fund at:
The Cleveland Foundation
1422 Euclid Avenue, Suite 1300
Cleveland, Ohio 44115
216-861-3810
www.clevelandfoundation.org/scholarships/MadisonScholarship.html
Obituary
eatrice B. Madison was born in Washington, D. C. to Julia Bailey Branch and Hayes Louis Branch on
September 5, 1922. She was the eldest of three daughters. She attended the racially segregated public
schools of Washington, D. C. and graduated from Dunbar Senior High in 1939. She went on to earn a Bachelor
of Science degree (cum laude) from Miner Teachers College and a Master of Arts degree in guidance and
personnel from the University of Chicago in 1947. While there, she was selected to study with the world-renown
child psychologist, Dr. Bruno Bettelheim.
She met Robert P. Madison in 1943 where he was an architecture student and Commander of the ROTC Cadet
Corps at Howard University. He tried desperately to get her attention by ordering a full military parade for her
alone. She drolly remarked that she was not impressed.
She taught in the public schools of Washington from 1943 to 1949 while Robert was fighting with the Buffalo
Soldiers in the Italian Campaign in World War II. They were married in the Rankin Chapel on the campus of
Howard University on April 16, 1949.
She accompanied Robert to Harvard Graduate School of Design, worked as an assistant librarian in the Design
School library, and encouraged him to apply for and accept the Fulbright Fellowship to Paris, France. She
returned to teaching in the Cleveland Public Schools from 1954 - 1960 while Robert’s practice was getting started.
In 1960, she retired from teaching to become a full time wife, mother, homemaker, civic leader, community
volunteer and activist.
She has served on the boards of numerous educational and human service organizations, including Bingham Day
Nursery, United Way Services, the Federation for Community Planning (now the Center for Community
Solutions), Case Western Reserve University Board of Overseers, Blue Cross of Northeast Ohio, and the Western
Reserve Historical Society. She was a founding member of Heights Citizens for Human Rights—forerunner of
Heights Community Congress—an organization established to ensure equal rights and fair housing for minorities
moving into Cleveland Heights. She was also a founder of and one of the original board members of
HARAMBEE: Services to Black Families, an agency designed to provide parenting skills to teenage parents and
to recruit permanent adoptive homes for Black youngsters.
Her devotion to community service inspired committee work with The Urban League of Greater Cleveland,
Friends of Karamu, the NAACP Fund Dinner, Case Western Reserve University Visiting Committee for the
Humanities, the Cleveland Orchestra Advisory Council, the Planned Parenthood Long Range Planning
Committee, and the Juvenile Court Youth Services Advisory Board. In 1963, she helped launch the Cleveland
Heights/University Heights Summer School Project, recruiting participants from the Cleveland Public Schools
and raising funds to offer financial assistance to those in need.
Her curriculum vitae lists 85 different committees which represent 36 different organizations, agencies, and
boards of which she served.
She was the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the NAACP’s Distinguished Service Award, the
Federation for Community Planning’s President’s Award, Who’s Who Among Black Americans, and the
University of Chicago Alumni Association’s Public Service Award.
A patron of the arts, she and her husband were recognized by Cleveland Opera, and the Cleveland Orchestra for
their visionary support of the arts in Cleveland. The Cleveland Foundation presented them with the Frederick
Harris Goff Philanthropic Service Award. She was a former president of the Links Incorporated and a member of
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Leatrice passed away on March 30, 2012 at University Hospital with her husband of sixty-three years at her side
as she left. She also leaves two daughters, Jeanne of Shaker Heights, Ohio and Juliette of Washington, D. C.;
grandsons, Ward and Hayes Anderson; granddaughter, Adeola Little (Clive Grant); great-granddaughter, Nadira
Grant; her sister, Jacqueline Branch Hall; and a host of other family members and many friends.