North Shore Death Notice: March 19 To April 2

The following death notices were added to funeral homes serving the North Shore area in the past week. Those homes have provided obituaries for some of those that have passed away recently. Patch offers condolences to their loved ones, links to their obituaries and notices of upcoming services below.

Kelley & Spalding Funeral Home, 1787 Deerfield Road in Highland Park

Shirley F. Crandall, 98, Lake Forest
Service April 13

Chandra Michelle Smith, 57, Calumet Park
Service April 19

Debra A. Barnes, 63, Palatine

Seguin & Symonds Funeral Home, 858 Sheridan Road in Highwood and 11 West Belvidere Road in Grayslake

Loretta I. McNerney-Molokie, 97, Lake Bluff
Service April 5

Jacqueline R. Walker née Bernardi, 85, Highland Park

Barbara Teresa Grubb née Pulczynski, 78, Wildwood

Wenban Funeral Home, 320 Vine Ave. in Lake Forest

Anne Fluno, 82, Marco Island, Florida
Visitation April 5, service April 6

Antoinette “Teta” Agnes Minuzzo, 85, Lake Bluff
Service April 28

Thomas J. Moulder, 81, Lake Forest

Wanda J. Perschke, 80, Lake Bluff

Edward Joseph Gurza, 78, Lake Forest

Reuland & Turnbough Funeral Home, 1407 N. Western Ave. in Lake Forest

Richard J. Phelan, 86, Lake Forest
Service April 12

William Thomas Woidat, 23, Lake Bluff

Chicago Jewish Funerals, 8851 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie and 195 N. Buffalo Grove Road in Buffalo Grove

Bernard F. Helman, 76, University City, Missouri
Service April 4

Laya Judith Frischer née Edgar, 88, Evanston
Service April 5

Barbara Glazer née Waller, 89, Glenview
Service April 7

Abraham Bohrer, 103, Lincolnwood

Herman Wexler, 100, Deerfield

Mariya Minkovskaya, 91, Chicago

Corliss Litz, 91, Skokie

Lidiya Kosaya née Demyantsev, 97, Streamwood

Mae Simon, 95, Chicago

Sheila B. Olshansky née Rich, 88, Highland Park

Tamara Shniper, 86, Northbrook

Carol F. Spector née Fine, 81, Homewood

Barry Steven Labovitz, 81, Morton Grove

Eugene "Gene" Litwin, 80, Buffalo Grove

Benita Takiff Terry, 80, Chicago

Marlene Eleanor Lassman née Kobernik, 82, Winnetka

Marlene Lasko Kramer née Schwartz, 77, Skokie

Kathy Rosenbluh, 68, Evanston

Laura Spektor, 74, Vernon Hills

Melvin H. Lifscis, 75, Chicago

Yosef Walder, 73, Highland Park

Tracy Lee Ballin, 63, Chicago

Larisa Blinderman, 61, Chicago

Donnellan Funeral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie

John Patrick Madden, 89, Naples, Florida
Service April 4

Carmen G. Tumino, 95, Schaumburg
Service April 5

Jeanette C. "Jenny" Kinsella, 84, Chicago
Service April 5

Matthew John Botica, 73, Winnetka
Service April 11

James Douglas "Jim" McColl, 86, Wilmette
Service April 24

Dorothy Lidecker Hussey, 97, Glenview
Service April 26

Maureen Rose Claps, 88, Northfield

Anthony Joseph “Tony” Merges, 88, Northbrook

Marguerite Elizabeth Kalsch née Kaul, 84, Glenview

Carol Ann Connolly Garrity, 84, Evanston

Suzanne F. Maholias, 75, Evanston

Paul A. Reishus, 69, Winnetka

Malachi John Flanagan, 65, Bronxville, New York

Brendan Doyle Perlin, 33, Chicago

Haben Funeral Home, 8057 Niles Center Road in Skokie

Charles “Charlie” Matan, 94, Mt. Prospect
Service April 4

Suzie Harmon McKee, 54, Evanston
Visitation April 5, service April 6

Joseph Patrick "Joe" Cirone, 56, Skokie
Service April 6

Dorothy “Dottie” Osborne, 98, Chicago
Service April 8

John B. Martin, 94, Evanston

Charles A. Teichert, 86, Skokie

Kenneth A. Hogan, 82, Morton Grove

W. Michael Phillips, 72, Chicago

Peter Anthony Frank, 53, Evanston

Thompson Funeral & Cremation Services, 1917 Asbury Ave. in Evanston

Vernon T. Moore, 90, Chicago

Victoria Johnson-Arnold, 79, Chicago

Evanston Funeral and Cremation, 1726 Central St. in Evanston

Thomas Francis Kenny, 81, Evanston

Weinstein & Piser Funeral Home, 111 Skokie Blvd. in Wilmette

Ira N. Stone, 92, Chicago
Service April 4

Lawrence Gerald Fretzin, 89, Wheeling

Leonid Nosovitsky, 89, Buffalo Grove

Phillip Grossman, 86, Deerfield

Romen Lyamgot, 86, Langhorne, Pennsylvania

Susan Brown, 81, Chicago

Rhoda F. Shulkin née Mamett, 80, Weston, Florida

Richard Sievert, 57, Evanston

N. H. Scott & Hanekamp Funeral Home, 1240 Waukegan Road in Glenview

Ceasar Broszewski, 59, Chicago
Service April 4

Emmanuel M.K. Nyadroh, 80, Glencoe
Service April 20

Virginia Bermúdez Ramírez, 91, Evanston

Gary Lane Fowler, 89, Evanston

Donald "Donny" P. Brewer, 78, Mt. Prospect

Melba Desie de Leon, 69, Glenview

Featured Obituary:

Richard J. Phelan, March 29, 1937, to March 27, 2024: A Life Well Lived

A survivor of six bouts of cancer over the past 25 years, Dick (as he was known) died peacefully two days before he was to turn 87. His wife of 34 years, Barbara, was at his side in their home in Chicago’s north suburban Lake Forest. The cause of death was metastatic cancer.

Dick was born in Chicago on March 29, 1937, the oldest of five children and the only son of Jane and Jack Phelan, a lawyer and Chicago precinct captain. Dick grew up on Chicago’s North Side and was a proud graduate of Our Lady of Lourdes grade school and Quigley Seminary Preparatory School. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame and his Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center.

The grandson of an Irish immigrant. At one time contemplated becoming a priest. In 1992 as Cook County Board President, Dick used his executive powers to reinstate abortions at Cook County Hospital after they were banned by his predecessor George Dunne. Dick overcame a lobbying campaign by several Cook County Board commissioners who challenged his decision unsuccessfully in court. His chief of staff, Bill Filan, was always by his side.

Dick began his career as a trial lawyer at leading Chicago law firms before starting his own firm in 1976 focusing on corporate law. Phelan, Pope & John quickly became one of the leading litigation firms in Chicago, with some of the city’s most prominent trial lawyers of the era, including Dick’s brother-in-law and former Illinois Appellate Court Justice William R. Quinlan.

In 1985 Dick took on the ultimately successful defense of Jewel Food Stores against a massive class action lawsuit alleging willful neglect for selling salmonella-tainted milk. Phelan and Jewel won a jury verdict in favor of the grocery giant.

After an accomplished career as a leading trial lawyer, his assignment as special outside counsel to lead the U.S. House Ethics Committee probe of U.S. House Speaker Jim Wright was high stakes. Wright stood accused of ethics violations including accepting improper gifts from a Texas developer and skirting House rules by collecting book royalties from special interests buying in bulk a collection of his speeches. In its coverage of the May 1989 case, The New York Times wrote of Dick:

“Indeed, colleagues and committee members say Mr. Phelan is relentless, tenacious, charming and ambitious: a man equally adept at seducing a jury and sacking a hostile witness, a man both realistic and righteous, who thought of being a priest and still thinks of winning a judgeship or some other Government office.”

Wright denied the charges, but he resigned.

The Wright prosecution elevated Dick’s national profile, but the case coincided with a personal tragedy when his late wife, Carol, an architect, died of a heart attack while they vacationed over the 1989 Christmas holiday in Hawaii with their three grown children, Mark, Anne and Jane. The couple had met on a blind date.

He had been encouraged to run for Cook County Board president. Dick’s successful 1990 campaign was run by Eric Adelstein, today a prominent national political consultant. Campaign staff included two future mayors, Rahm Emanuel and Lori Lightfoot, as well as political consultant Pete Giangreco. After mounting an unsuccessful run for Governor in 1994, Dick returned to practicing law, serving as managing partner of Chicago law firm Foley & Lardner. He led the firm’s 2000 merger with Chicago law firm Hopkins & Sutter.

He served as president of the Chicago Bar Association, the Dean of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and a law professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law. A tireless public servant, Dick was a board member of numerous organizations during his career and well into his retirement.

Dick married Barbara in 1991 after they met on the second blind date of his life, arranged by his sister Maureen Mohling. Their life together began in the political world. They met and became friends with statesman scholars and the working class during his term as county board president. They spent many happy and active years together splitting their time between Lake Forest and Naples, Fla., where they were involved in numerous charities. In retirement Dick started a lecture series, remained an avid reader. He also enjoyed golfing, swimming, running and taking bike trips. He was a religious man who never stopped learning.

“Dick was the love of my life and a wonderful partner to me and a devoted father to his three children and a proud grandfather of six,” Barbara said. “Politics could use someone of Dick’s convictions today. He advocated for equality for women as a lawyer and as an elected official.” Dick was committed to his family and friends, and he will be remembered for his optimistic and positive attitude, great intellect, leadership, and compassion.

“He was simply amazing. A life well lived,” said Barbara.

Obituaries and images may be submitted to your Patch for publication: Deerfield, Evanston, Glenview, Highland Park, Lake Bluff-Lake Forest, Niles-Morton Grove, Northbrook, Skokie, Winnetka-Glencoe-Northfield, Wilmette-Kenilworth

Last week: North Shore Death Notices: March 11 To March 18