Article: Thomas G. Ayers: 1915 - 2007: Utility executive led civic, racial initiativesFormer Commonwealth Edison chief helped develop Dearborn Park and pushed for an end to housing discrimination against blacks.

Byline: Jo Napolitano

Jun. 12--Thomas G. Ayers, a longtime civic and business leader, had a vision for Chicago's urban landscape and its minority communities.

In addition to serving as the chairman and chief executive officer of Commonwealth Edison in the 1970s, he was a major force in the development of the area just south of the Loop known as Dearborn Park. He also was an advocate of fair housing and equal opportunity for women and minorities.

His son William Ayers was once the leader of the radical Weather Underground, formed amid the tumult of the Vietnam War and responsible for a series of bombings in the 1970s.

William Ayers, ...

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