George S. Brennan 1938-2012

Richard S. Brennan, 74, of Amboy, died Oct. 10, 2012, after a three-week illness.

Mr. Brennan was born March 18, 1938, in St. Louis, the only son of Anna Pearl and Clarence R. Brennan. In 1963 he married Margaret (Jill) Wilson in Muskegon, Mich.

The family lived in Collinsville, Mo., and Memphis, Tenn. before settling permanently in Shorewood, a suburb of Milwaukee, Wis. Mr. Brennan received a BA from Princeton University in 1960 and a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1963.

He and his wife moved to New York City where Mr. Brennan began his law career with Shearman & Sterling. Two years later they transferred to Mayer Brown in Chicago, where he continued his long career. In 1969, the family, which now included two sons, was transferred to the Paris office of Mayer Brown, where they spent three years and had one more child, a daughter.

They returned to the U.S. in 1972, but were reassigned to London, England in 1974 to move the Paris office to London. That practice, of which Mr. Brennan was the leading partner, now numbers hundreds of lawyers. Mr. Brennan returned to Chicago in 1977 and in 1982 became the General Counsel of the Continental Bank. He remained General Counsel throughout the bank's transition into Bank of America, leaving in 1994. Mr. Brennan retained Mayer Brown as his base but served as General Counsel for J.I. Case in Racine, Wis., from 1995 - 1999, when it was purchased by Fiat. He subsequently served as temporary General Counsel for Stepan Company for three years.

Survivors include his wife, Jill; his sons, George M. Brennan (Susan), Joseph B. Brennan (Molly), Sophie Brennan Carlisle (Jon); and six grandchildren, Patrick and Joy Brennan, William and Edward Brennan, and Lucy and Henry Carlisle.