A Celebration of the
Life of Lawrence P. Doss
Lawrence P. Doss, or Larry as his friends called him, parted this life on
Sunday, October 28, 2001 at Harper Hospital where he spent his last days.
 Larry was born on June 16, 1927 to the union of Velma Kendall Doss and
Raymond Doss. He grew up fatherless in Cleveland's projects and learned at
an early age the devastating effects of lung cancer, as his father lost his
life to pneumonia before Larry ever grew to know him. He would be reminded
of the painful toll of lung disease later in life when two dear friends
succumbed to the disease. His mother prepared him for the world the best she
could, giving him the strength to want to succeed. She reminded him of his
uncanny ability for math and anything dealing with numbers. Nevertheless,
Doss dropped out of high school. He joined the segregated Navy of the
forties where he acquired the needed discipline and motivation to later
realize his potential.
With his new perception of himself after the Navy, he obtained a GED high
school equivalency degree. Larry then worked any job he could find to put
himself first through American University with a B.A. and, much later in
life, an MBA at a university in Florida. He joined the Internal Revenue
Service in 1949 as a result of President Harry Truman's initiative to
integrate the federal workforce. He proceeded to work his way to the top,
taking every management training course made available to him. He arrived in
Detroit in 1965 as a senior IRS regional manager and became very active in
community activities.
Larry joined the Federation for Self-Determination, a coalition of a diverse
set of community leaders, including militant leadership, in response to the
Rebellion in Detroit in late 1967. Becoming a close friend of Congressman
Charles Diggs, Larry helped to organize the Inner City Business Improvement
Forum (ICBIF) and was its first president leading its minority business
organization efforts. At ICBIF, he helped usher in Detroit's black
entrepreneurial growth. Numerous businesses and nonprofits were launched or
strengthened over the 20 years of ICBIFs existence, including the First
Independence National Bank, three minority enterprise small business
investment companies, ACCORD, Inc., Detroit's Black United Fund, and the
Economic Development Corporation, a predecessor of the Michigan Minority
Business Development Council, among many other firms.
Several community building activities exemplified Larry's outstanding skills
at strategic planning, building cooperation among conflicting parties and
leadership, getting the confidence and friendship of others and in
stimulating positive social change. He became the coordinator in the early
seventies of the Detroit School District de-centralization plan and the
second President of New Detroit, Inc, the nation's first urban coalition
bringing together business and labor, professionals, institutions, and
Blacks, Whites and Hispanics to address urban problems. Working closely with
Mayor Coleman A. Young and his administration, Larry played a significant
role in the strategy for and implementation of the integration of the
Detroit Police Department in the seventies. He served as President of the
Coleman A. Young Foundation, establishing a higher education scholarship and
mentoring program to develop future scholars and leaders in Detroit and
elsewhere.
Inspired by a New Detroit sponsored trip to South Africa, Larry continued
his involvement in developing positive race relations by helping to
structure South African urban coalitions to bring together all cultures in
meaningful dialogue about integration and economic development. He remained
active in civil rights throughout his career. As partner in Cooper's &
Lybrand in the eighties, Larry, a Principal Consultant, provided the
financial plan to help the 75,000 churches with over 20 million members of
the Congress of National Black Churches expand their community outreach and
remain financially sound. He later became chairman of Coopers & Lybrand's
State and Local Government-Industry Program, in which capacity he traveled
extensively around the U.S. exploiting his financial and organizational
skills to help others.
Describing Larry also as an entrepreneur does not begin to do him justice.
He was president of Doss Ventures, Inc, a business development firm
specializing in communications and transportation; Chairman of Metro
Ventures, which owns and manages news and gift shop concessions at Detroit
Metropolitan Airport in a joint venture with The Paradies Shops; Interim
Executive Director, Schools of the 21st Century which provided leadership in
Detroit School reform efforts; President of United Communications, Inc.,
which has owned a majority interest in FM radio stations in Jacksonville,
Florida and Nashville, Tennessee; Manager/Treasurer of Atwater Entertainment
Associates, the initiator of Motor City Casino; Partner in Greyhaven
Estates; and founding President of Detroit First.
His other public sector and nonprofit activities were legion. Larry was the
Executive Vice Chairman of the D.C. Commission of Criminal Justice; Vice
Chairman, Martin Luther King Center for Non-Violent Social Change in
Atlanta: Treasurer, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation; Board of
Directors, Africare; Board of Trustees, University of Detroit; Finance
Council, Democratic National Committee; Director, National Urban Coalition
in D. C.; Director of United Way, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation,
Harper Hospital, American Natural Resources, Hudson Webber Foundation; and
consultant to the Board of Trustees of Wayne County Community College where
he evaluated the college's management, finances and programs.
Larry leaves to celebrate his life and homecoming his wife, Judith Doss, two
daughters and one son, Paula Doss of San Diego California, Lawry (Nikki)
Doss of London, England and Seif Thompson-Doss of Detroit; one sister,
Virginia Ehlen of Washington, D. C.; nieces, Lenore French, Lisa French,
Jennifer Guy, Susie Guy and nephews, Paul Guy, Peter Guy, Mark French, and
John French; three great nieces and two great nephews, numerous cousins and
a long list of devoted and loyal friends.
His contributions were prodigious. His influence will continue through the
contributions of his Coleman Young mentees and the multitude that he
influenced to carry on his good deeds.
First Annual Scholarship Fundraiser Weekend
The Lawrence P. Doss Scholarship Board Request the honor of your presence at our
First Annual Scholarship Fundraiser Weekend to be held on the beautiful island of Martha's Vineyard Lola's Restaurant Island Country Club Beach Road, Oak Bluffs, MA
Friday - August 23rd, 2002 six o'clock p.m. until nine o'clock p.m. featuring Johnnie Cochran Esquire booksigning and reception.
Cost: $150.00 per person - book included. Cash bar. Attire: summer white. The Lawrence P. Doss Scholarship Foundation is a Tax Deductible 501(c)(3) Non-profit charitable organization
|
