1674-3 C.W. (Pete) ChaseDeaths
C.W. Chase,
who unified
Miami Beach
By EARL DEHART
Herald Staff Writer
Charles W. (Pete) Chase; the man
who brought together warring fac-
tions of early Miami Beach and
founded the Miami Beach Chamber
of Commerce 60 years ago, has died
at his Beach home. He was 95.
"There was the North, up to 30th
Street and the Ocean, and there was
the South, everything below Eighth
Street," Mr. Chase once recalled.
"The Northerners looked upon
the Southerners as a bunch• of
bums. The Southerners called the
Northerners a stack of stuffed
shirts ... or words to that effect.
"There were only 641 residents
then, and you couldn't get coopera-
tion from the two factions."
"I asked my boss, [pioneer Beach
developer} Carl Fisher, for time off
to organize a contribution commit-
tee" to put lights on the MacArthur
Causeway.
"Fisher said `OK, on condition
you stop that silly north -south feud-
ing.'"
Chase stopped the feuding and
the Chamber was born.
Long a member of the chamber's
board of commerce, Mr. Chase step-
ped down as its secretary -treasurer
in the early 1960s.
. The Beach's Chase Avenue is
named for him.
Mr. Chase was born in Kansas
City, Mo., of theatrical parents.
The family performed through-
out the United States, "one year rid-
ing in their own Pullman car and
the next year broke," a family
member said.
As a child actor, Mr. Chase star-
red in roles of "Little Lord Faunt-
leroy," "Oliver Twist" and "David
Copperfield."
After schooling in Illinois, Michi-
gan, New York and New Hamp-
shire, Mr. Chase settled down to be-
come a salesman in New York..
Before World War I, his family
went to Sugar Loaf Key near Key
West to farm sponges and produce
molasses for a British firm.
During the war years, he was a
Navy .lieutenant in command of a
torpedo boat.
After the war, Mr. Chase became
Kev West's first Chevrolet dealer.
He wanted to promote Key West,
so he arranged a regatta that sailed
J•
Chase
to Miami and there he met Carl
Fisher. The celebrated Fisher
offered him a job.
"I asked him what kind of work
he wanted me to do and he an-
swered:
"'If we plant grass, you'll plant
grass.
[f we build homes, you'll build
homes.
" 'If a mule connected with one
of our companies dies, you'll see
that it's buried.' "
Mr. Chase actually did bury two
mules on one occasion, after one of
Fisher's railway cars struck and
killed them. •
Charged more broadly with put-
ting
Miami Beach on the map, Mr.
Chase was instrumental in inaugu-
rating the famous series of cheese-
cake photograhs sent out to North- ,
ern newspapers to lure tourists.
The mother of the series' first
model sued over her daughter's "in-
decent" photograph and won
$50,000. The girl, it developed, had
,been underage.
"It taught us.a lesson in advertis-
ing," Mr. Chase said. "
He became sales manager of the
Fisher organization, staying until it
folded in 1943.
Later, Mr. Chase co-founded the
Committee of 100 and served for
many years as a vice president.
He helped write the original
Miami Beach zoning restrictions
and had served on various city
boards. He was alsoa president of
the Miami Beach Board of Realtors.
•Before Metro government in.
Dade County, Mr. Chase was ap-;
pointed to the county budget board,
by four consecutive Florida gover y
nors. He served as the board's
chairman from 1942 to 1953
He was past chairman and mem
ber of the Miami Beach Publicity
Board from 1942 until 1953.
• Mr. Chase is survived by a
daughter, Sarah MacLeod; one
granddaughter; and • one great-
granddaughter.
A memorial service will be at
10:30 a.m. Monday in the Miami
Beach Community Church. • The
family asks that, in lieu of flowers,
donations be sent to the church's
endowment fund. .
Walsh and Wood Funeral Home
is handling arrangements.
• 1 • ,t.