William Wood McKittrick 1915-2010

William Wood McKittrick, 95, died Dec. 25, 2010, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Davis McKittrick; daughter, Lynn McKittrick Pond; son, Bruce Wood McKittrick; son-in-law, Robert A. Pond; and daughter-in-law, Wendy Wilson McKittrick. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lafe Emmerson and Mary Lynn Wood McKittrick. He attended DePauw University from 1932 to 1936, graduated in 1936 with an A.B. in political science, and was a member of 1933 DePauw University Football Team, which went "undefeated, untied and unscored upon." He attended Northwestern University School of Law from 1936 to 1939, graduated in 1939 with a J.D. degree, and was a member and Notes Editor of the Illinois Law Review of Northwestern University School of Law. He joined the Law Firm of Pope and Ballard in Chicago, in 1939. From February 1942 through August 1942, he was on leave from Pope and Ballard for the purpose of performing government service as an attorney in the office of the General Counsel, the Panama Canal Zone. In November 1942, he enlisted and was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve and was called to active duty in February 1943. He was subsequently stationed on the escort carrier USS Kalinin Bay, including during the period of that ship's participation in the Battle Off Samar in late October 1944. On December 19, 1942, he married Carolyn Lenne Davis, and they celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary on December 19, 2010. He was discharged from active duty in the Navy in December 1945 and rejoined the law firm of Pope and Ballard. In the spring of 1952, he was one of the seven founding partners of the law firm Vedder, Price, Kaufman & Kammholz, where he remained as a partner until his retirement from the practice of law. He was a life-long patron of the arts and learning, giving substantially of both his time and money to numerous civic organizations, including the Art Institute of Chicago (for which he also served on numerous service committees), the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Newberry Library, Northwestern University, and the Caxton Club. In 1980, he was made a Trustee of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, subsequently being named a Life Trustee. During his tenure as a trustee, he served on numerous board committees and he represented the CSO for several years as a board member of the League of American Orchestras. In 1984, he was made a member of the Board of Trustees of the Newberry Library, and he became a life trustee of the Library in 1998. He was an active member for many years of the Caxton Club of Chicago, of which he was the president for several years, and The Lawyers Club of Chicago.