North Shore Death Notices: May 8 To May 14

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.

Wenban Funeral Home, 320 Vine Ave. in Lake Forest

Elizabeth Verkler, 68, Lake Forest
Service May 19

Audrey Semmelman, 89, Lake Forest
Service May 20

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

Anna Jean "A.J." Woroch, 96, Lake Forest
Service June 2

Thomas "Tom" Benton Hunter, 93, Lake Forest

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

James “Jim” Borovka, 84, Libertyville
Service May 22

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

Ralph Lipsey Barnett, 89, Chicago
Service May 18

Alexander Weiss, 72, Evanston
Service May 28

Frederick Michael Skeer, 94, Chicago
Service July 3

Harriet S. Herst née Siglin, 95, Northbrook

Morris "Morry" Rosman, 95, Buffalo Grove

Zinaida Krasnopolskaya, 93, Chicago

David L. Rice, 92, Northbrook

Avrum Reifer, 90, Chicago

Deborah Helene Nusinson, 89, Palo Alto

David G. "Davo" Hirsch, 88, Northbrook

Boris Berdich, 85, Lincolnshire

Larry Horwitz, 83, Chicago

Tamara David, 82, Chicago

Jeffrey Buckman, 80, Park Ridge

Daniel Rivers, 46, Evanston

Donnellan Funeral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie

Joseph J. Madden, 93, Lincolnshire
Service May 20

Luna Grace Downey, 6 weeks, Evanston

Haben Funeral Home, 8057 Niles Center Road in Skokie

Eugene D. Banathy, 90, Skokie
Service May 20

John Clark Paulsen, 90, Minneapolis
Service May 20

John Jacob Ets Hokin, 83, Chicago

Phyllis A. Koder née Camp, 82, Skokie

Cristina Luisa “Nini” Yearwood-Rollox née Dale, 78, Skokie

Sandra Gail “Sandy” Wills née Krull, 73, Grayslake

Lean Amir C. Oaing, 21, Skokie

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

Annette A. Reid, 63, Evanston

Paul Albert Hicks, 57, Evanston

Shelly Barbara Beeks-Harris, 57, Chicago

Evanston Funeral and Cremation, 1726 Central St. in Evanston

Joseph Thomas Beard, 42, Rockton

Simkins Funeral Home, 6251 Dempster St. in Morton Grove

Georgiana Duffy, 92, Park Ridge

Margaret "Peggy" Kendler, 92, Morton Grove

Maria Gruettner, 90, Niles

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

Nancy L. Blackwell, 68, Glenview
Service May 17

Zidan Raab, 16, Glenview

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

Carol Ann Lambert, 81, Lake Forest
Service May 17

Dorothy Ann Waters, 95, Dallas
Service May 18

Lana E. Feldman née Caplan, 79, Boynton Beach, Florida
Service May 18

Richard Jacob Hahn, 90, Chicago

Paul Reiner, 88, Boynton Beach, Florida

Featured Obituary:

It’s often said that a man is measured by the company keeps. And for Lake Forest’s Thomas (Tom) Benton Hunter III, this was the perfect ruler.

“Our Dad was an incredible judge of character,” says son Willard (Bill) Hunter. “He loved to hold court with the people from all walks of life who knew the community best—whether it was at Sandy’s in Highwood, Caputo’s in Lake Forest, or Loons on the Limb in Boca Grande. Dad’s friends were all hardworking good people that anyone would be proud to know.”

The community lost a good friend and an even better man on December 4, 2022. Tom was 93.

A strong sense of community was a driving force in Tom’s life, having been born to Thomas B. Hunter Jr. and Harriet Goodrow on May 20, 1929, in Evanston, Illinois. While his father worked in the family business Thomas B. Hunter Associates, a sales organization in the radio and electronics sector—his mother would renovate homes the couple purchased and then sell them, something not at all typical of homemakers at the time. Young Tom lived in 10 different homes along the North Shore throughout his childhood.

Tom attended elementary school at what is now known as the Gorton Community Center in Lake Forest. It was here that he met his future wife, Maxine Mae Morrison, when they were in the sixth grade.

“Tom loved to tell the story that way when Gorton was a school, he snuck under the stage and had his first kiss with Maxine after she finished playing in a piano recital,” says long-time friend and former neighbor Brenda Dick.

The Hunters’ love story was one that would span more than seven decades.

“She was his first girlfriend, his only girlfriend,” adds son Thomas (Tom) Hunter IV.

After earning his pilot license and completing his studies at Kenyon College and Northwestern University and his time with the Army Military Reserves, Tom joined his father at Thomas B. Hunter Associates and worked there until he retired in 1989. He then went on to serve on bank boards in Illinois and Florida, including the Hyde Park Bank in Illinois—USAmeriBank, which was the first bank to be part of a multi-bank holding company in the state. USAmeriBank subsequently became JPMorgan Chase. Tom proudly served on these boards with his brother-in-law Harrison Steans.

Perhaps one of Tom’s most meaningful accomplishments was the creation of the Hunter Family Foundation in 1994. It will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year.

“Our Dad didn’t grow up in a family that had a philanthropic foundation—it was all new to him when he founded it,” Tom IV says. “But it gave him the opportunity to go out and financially support individuals, causes, and organizations that were important to him and Mom.”

Initially, the Hunter Family Foundation invested in the arts, as it was a shared interest of Tom and Maxine.

“Our Mother was very involved with the Chicago Symphony, Ravinia, and the Art Institute, so those became causes that were important to my Dad, too,” says Bill.

Yet, it wasn’t long before Tom found himself giving to more community-based initiatives like Lake Forest Open Lands, Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, Chicago Botanic Garden, The Garden Conservancy, North Lawndale College Prep High School, Boca Grande Health Clinic, Boca Grande Community Center, and the Island Charter School.

Send obituaries and images to your Patch to be included in future editions: Deerfield, Evanston, Glenview, Highland Park, Lake Bluff-Lake Forest, Niles-Morton Grove, Northbrook, Skokie, Winnetka-Glencoe-Northbrook, Wilmette-Kenilworth

Last week: North Shore Death Notices: May 1 To May 7