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  "path": "/obituaries/2026/05/31/spencer-leak-jr-sons-funeral-homes-dies",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-31T20:21:34.959Z",
  "site": "https://chicago.suntimes.com",
  "textContent": "<p>Spencer Leak Jr., one of the heads of funeral titan Leak and Sons, has died, the business confirmed Sunday. He was 56.</p><p>Mr. Leak Jr. was a grandson of the Rev. Andrew Leak, the Chicago funeral home's founder, and one of three sons of Spencer Leak Sr.</p><p>The Leak family has been in the funeral business since 1933, when Rev. Andrew Leak <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/small-business/2026/02/26/leak-sons-funeral-home-jesse-jackson-services-rainbow-push-history-civil-rights-leader\" target=\"_blank\" >started the business</a> with a $500 loan from his wife, Dottie, and $500 that he saved from working as a bathroom attendant at the Chicago World’s Fair. He said he wanted Black Chicagoans to be able to bury their loved ones respectfully.</p><p>The couple ran the business with their three sons, including the youngest, <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/2016/11/5/18373824/funeral-director-has-up-close-view-of-impact-of-chicago-violence\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>Spencer Leak Sr</u></a>. After Andrew Leak died in 1993, Spencer Leak Sr., now 88, took over as president and owner and renamed the business Leak and Sons; Mr. Leak Jr. began work there at a young age.</p><p>Mr. Leak Jr. earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mortuary science and funeral service at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale before becoming a licensed funeral director in 1989.</p><p>He ascended to vice president of Leak and Sons at age 23 in 1993. He also accidentally spurred about <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/21450930/pound-cake-spencer-leak-funeral-repasts-pandemic-coronavirus-covid19-south-side-country-club-hills\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>two dozen pound cake deliveries</u></a> to the business in 2020 after a social media post he made about missing his favorite dessert spread online.</p><p>Earlier this year, he told the Sun-Times he considered himself and his father a “dynamic duo” as they prepared to <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/small-business/2026/02/26/leak-sons-funeral-home-jesse-jackson-services-rainbow-push-history-civil-rights-leader\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>host Rev. Jesse Jackson’s funeral</u></a>. The funeral home handled the services, and Leak Jr. personally drove the famed civil rights leader’s body to <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2026/03/02/the-rev-jesse-jackson-greenville-south-carolina-colombia-greenville8-lying-in-state-chicago\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>South Carolina</u></a> in a brand new hearse.</p><p>Mr. Leak Jr.’s siblings, mother and cousin are also involved in the business, which conducts more than 2,500 burials annually and has 106 employees.</p><p>When Jesse Jackson Jr. first ran for Congress, Mr. Leak Jr. joined him on the campaign trail. The two had grown up playing basketball together, a continuation of a family friendship that developed earlier on when the Jacksons moved into the Leaks’ former home.</p><p>Mr. Leak Jr. also mentored Black youth through the nonprofit 100 Black Men. </p><p>Leak and Sons has three funeral home locations: One in Chicago, at 7838 S. Cottage Grove Ave., and two locations suburban Country Club Hills and Matteson.</p><p>He is survived by his wife Dr. Donna Leak and children Spencer Leak III and Emma Leak.</p>",
  "title": "Spencer Leak Jr. of Leak & Sons Funeral Homes dies at 56",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-31T20:21:34.959Z"
}