Edward T. Chambers, faith-based organizer, dies at 85: People

Edward T. Chambers, longtime executive director of the Industrial Areas Foundation, died on April 26 in Kilcoe, Ireland. He was 85 and had advanced Alzheimer’s disease, according to the IAF.

The IAF, which describes itself as “the nation’s largest and longest-standing network of local faith and community-based organizations,” was founded in 1940 by Saul Alinsky.

“Chambers was the lead organizer in many of the IAF organizing efforts in the 1950s and 1960s,” the foundation wrote. “He then mentored an entire generation of organizers and community leaders in what he called ‘the skills of public life.’”