Leon Finney, Pastor, Civil Rights Leader and Developer Dead At 82

CHICAGO — Civil Rights pioneer and South Side developer, the Rev. Dr. Leon Finney Jr., died Friday. He was 82.

Finney, who served as senior pastor at Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church for 20 years, was best known as founder of The Woodlawn Organization, a community group that oversaw $190 million in economic development on the South Side.

Born in Louise, Mississippi on July 7, 1938, Finney settled in Chicago in the 1960s. He graduated from Hyde Park High School, served in the U.S. Marines Corps, and earned several college degrees including a Doctorate in Public Administration from Nova University. He was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

Dr. Finney was a protégé of radical activist Saul Alinsky. He made a name for himself fighting to keep the University of Chicago from pushing its development agenda south of the Midway Plaisance in the Woodlawn neighborhood where he grew up.

Dr. Finney's father, the late Leon D. Finney, Sr., was the namesake of Leon's Barbecue, which opened in 1942 and closed in the 2000s. At the urging of Oscar-winner Denzel Washington, who during a visit to Chicago reportedly asked, "Where's Leon's," Dr. Finney revived the restaurant in 2018.

"I wish my Dad was here to see this," Finney told ABC 7. "He loved the barbecue business."

Dr. Finney once served as vice chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority, a Chicago State University trustee and was a member of the Chicago Planning Commission.

In 2008, Dr. Finney publicly defended then presidential candidate Barack Obama in the wake of controversial statements made by Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

In 2019, Dr. Finney became a controversial figure when he was accused of questionable financial practices and accused of fraud when The Woodlawn Organization filed bankruptcy, according to a Chicago Sun-Times report.

Dr. Finney is survived by three sisters and a brother, his daughter, Kristin Finney-Cooke, and three grandchildren. Services are pending.