Robert B McDermott
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Robert's obituary
Robert B. McDermott
Robert McDermott passed away at home on August 9, 2024 after a long, productive and happy life. He was surrounded by family and a Chicago sunrise over the lake. He was 97 years old.
Bob, as he was known to his friends and family, was born on June 16,1927 in Washington, DC. He was the eldest son of Edward H. McDermott and Goldie Lucile (Boso) McDermott. He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Sarah Jaicks. He is also survived by his three children: John McDermott (Lynn Tate), Jeanne McDermott (Ted Finch), and Charlie McDermott (Patricia Flaherty); six grandchildren: Hannah McDermott, Lucy McDermott (Peter Yeo), Jeremy Finch (Stephanie Fungsang), Nate Finch (Jenna Finch), Clare McDermott and Amelia McDermott; step grandson Clay Baldo; and three great grandchildren: Kai Wing-Choi Finch, June Ming-Choi Finch, and Sadie Vincent Yeo. He was preceded in death by his brother John H. McDermott, his former wife Julia W. Kramer and his former wife Jane S. Whitman.
Bob grew up in Evanston and Glencoe, Illinois and attended New Trier High School. He graduated from Princeton in 1948 with a BA in English Literature and obtained his law degree at Harvard, graduating in 1951. Following law school, Bob served in the Navy as part of the Judge Advocate General Corp, including time in a battle group in Korea and on the battleship USS IOWA.
As an undergraduate and law student, Bob worked in Chicago at the young firm, founded by his father, that would become McDermott, Will and Emery. He was joined in the practice by his brother John. Bob was an expert in corporate taxation and corporation law, eventually becoming managing partner of the firm from 1986 to 1991, a time of rapid national and ultimately international growth for MWE.
Bob married Julia Wood of Berkeley, CA on November 16, 1950. Bob and Julia had met briefly while travelling between Chicago and Boston on their way to their respective graduate programs at Harvard in 1949. They were reintroduced on a blind date arranged by Julia’s roommate in 1950 and married later that year. They had three children: John (b. 1953), Jeanne (b. 1955) and Charlie (b. 1959). Although their marriage ended in divorce, they remained closely connected through their shared family until Julia’s passing in April of 2023 at the age of 96.
Bob married Jane Whitman, a fellow partner at MWE, on July 31, 1973. Bob and Jane lived a happy and active life in Chicago and Lakeside, Michigan. A particular shared pleasure was sailing their 42-foot sloop on Lake Michigan and Lake Macatawa with friends and family.
Jane’s early passing came in May of 1992 at the age of 63; Bob and Jane had only recently retired from their law practices.
In retirement Bob began another active phase of his life. He became chair of the board of Court Theatre in Chicago, engaging his love of literature and performance. For 22 years Bob served on the board of Mather in Evanston, which he chaired in the early 2000s. He believed deeply in Mather’s mission to “create ways to age well” and helped the organization emerge as an innovator and thought leader in the aging industry. Bob was a trustee of Illinois Institute of Technology and a long-time member of the University Club of Chicago and Chikaming Country Club.
Bob and Sarah married in Lakeside on January 6, 1996. Throughout their marriage they were deeply involved in their Chicago and Lakeside communities. They travelled, supported each other’s endeavors and shared a love of music, art, the outdoors and all things French.
Many of Bob’s passions as a young man continued to sustain him as he aged. He loved books and read widely: history, physics, current events, mountaineering, medicine and poetry. He loved music - classical, jazz, opera, the Great American Songbook, Stephen Sondheim - and played his baby grand piano by ear (badly he would say) into his last year.
He was deeply moved by art, and particularly drawn to the work of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. The English language, and language study in general, gave Bob huge pleasure. In middle age he was a student and board member of the Alliance Française de Chicago; he studied German well into his 80’s. For Bob, the joy of travel was amplified by plunging head first into at least the basics of the culture’s language. He was a fan of great food the world over, preferring a hearty classic dish but enjoying a one or two star now and then.
Bob loved the canoe country of southern Ontario, Canada and all the world’s mountains. He hiked, he climbed, he canoed and sailed throughout his life. During a demanding career as an attorney, in the days before cell phones, Bob could be very hard to reach as his multi week trips often took him to remote locations, from Quetico Provincial Park to Denali National Park and ultimately to the trek of a lifetime in Nepal at age 68. After that, he took up skiing and felt each winter ended too soon.
Bob was a people person who cherished his friends, and kept them for life. Equally important to him was his family. He hosted countless extraordinary gatherings, always in interesting locations, with great food and completely without an agenda. Whether it was a celebration in Paris, hiking in the Tetons, a weekend in Oslo or an afternoon at Wrigley Field, Bob loved to have his family with him on adventures, marveling together at the amazing world we are fortunate to live in.
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