Lives of Consequence
Clarence William Boebel '47
Executive Director of the Chicago Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers
Clarence William Boebel '47 dedicated his life to public service. He was a strong and effective advocate for bettering the lives of underserved youth, the poor and the elderly. Through his outreach he brought educational and health care services to people in need in their communities.
For more than two decades, he served as executive director of the Chicago Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood centers securing grants and other funding for settlement houses. These organizations - sometimes called a community or neighborhood center - offer neighborhoods such services as job training and employment programs, education and literacy initiatives, legal counseling, mental health and home care, housing, senior centers and food programs. These houses are also often the hub for citizenship and community service opportunities and initiatives.
Boebel's first job in the Settlement Movement was as program director at a settlement house in Knoxville, Tenn. He went on to run a center and eventually head the Tennessee Youth Guidance Commission. He became executive director of the Chicago Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers in 1961. There, he worked with 30 independent member agencies.
Boebel administered the disbursement of federal funds to neighborhood agencies throughout the area. In the process, he created job opportunities for economically challenged young people as well as acquiring other resources for community advancement.
Through the federation, he was responsible for the local disbursement of federal funds for social service programs. Boebel successfully used his talents as a speaker, as well as film and other technology to gain additional funding for member agencies. Through the use of documentary movies about the settlements in Chicago, he solicited funding. He also persuaded settlements to share resources and collaborate in an effort to stretch the funding dollars.
Boebel began his life of service by enlisting as an ensign in the U. S. Navy, stationed for three years aboard the U.S.S. Cowie and the U.S.S. Hogan in the Pacific during World War II. Following the war, he earned a B.S. in biology from Hobart College, where he was active in the glee club, Little Theatre, the Herald and the Echo. He went on to obtain a master's degree in social science administration from Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University).
He died on Feb. 28, 2013.