Obituary
James Anthony Hammer, known to family and friends as Tony, was a 40-year resident of both Deerfield and Highland Park,IL. He passed away on Sunday, July 16, 2023 at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital in Lake Forest. Married to Susan Berman Hammer for nearly 48 years, Tony was 82.
The Hammers lived in Highland Park for 19 years and in Deerfield for 21 years as well as Prestonwood (North Dallas),TX for two years. Their son Erik, born at Prentice Women's Hospital in Chicago in 1983, currently lives in Highland Park with his wife Lauren and their two young daughters Lilah,6, and Caroline, 4. Susan was a leader in School Dist. 112 and handled PR for Port Clinton Square, among other PR clients on the North Shore and in Chicago. The Hammers were members of North Shore Congregation in Glencoe, IL for many years.
Tony graduated from Birmingham High School in Birmingham, MI as well as the University of Chicago where he earned a B.A. in English and an MA in Humanities (with a year's stint at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor) and Northern IL University where he received his JD. After earning his law degree, Tony clerked for Judge Joan Lefkow and was a public defender in the courts at 26th and California. He also served as speech writer for IL Auditor (now known as Comptroller) Michael J. Howlett, Sr.Later, he became a partner and employee benefits consultant at the Wyatt Company in Chicago and Dallas. In 1987, the Hammers returned to Deerfield from Dallas where he became a principal in consulting and a department director at Towers, Perrins and Ernst and Young in Chicago.He met Susan at Gino's East in Streeterville (their names are carved in one of the wood booths) when he interviewed her for a communications job at the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau where he was chief of staff to the CEO. They were married August 17, 1975 in Buffalo, NY at the historic Montefiore Club on Delaware Avenue. In post-retirement, he taught college entrepreneurship as well as English/Writing, Humanities and Philosophy.
Tony was born June 6, 1941, at Harper Hospital in Detroit,MI, the son of Amy and Jennings Hammer, a senior vice president with the Jam Handy film production company which produced films for the major automobile manufacturers, school districts and for training pilots in WWII. Amy was a High School English teacher in Pittsburgh before she married. Tony grew up in Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills, MI.
Tony will be deeply missed by all. In addition to his wife Susan and son Erik and family, he is survived by his sister, Victoria Brouilette, a niece and two great nieces. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research www.michaeljfox.org/donate or to the Northwestern Memorial Foundation, PO Box 734985, Chicago, Illinois 60673-4985. Please make checks payable to "Northwestern Memorial Foundation" and include Tony Hammer in the memo line. Donations can also be made online athttps://nmgive.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=926 or over the phone at (833) 443-8663. Your gift will support nurses and palliative care at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital. Chapel service Wednesday, July 19, 2023; 2:30 PM at Shalom Memorial Funeral Home 1700 W. Rand Road, Arlington Heights, IL. Interment Shalom Memorial Park. For the link to view the service, shiva information or to leave condolences: www.shalommemorial.org or (847) 255-3520.