Necrology

Robert Liss Brooks '58

Jun. 21, 1936-Jun. 9, 2022

Robert Liss Brooks ’58, P’87 died at his home in Evanston, Ill., on June 9, 2022. Born in Utica on June 21, 1936, he attended the Utica Free Academy before Hamilton. 

On the Hill, he was a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity and majored in political science. Throughout his time at Hamilton, he was a member of the International Relations Club and sang in the College Choir, also joining the Spanish Club his sophomore year. Of greater significance, in the spring of his junior year Bob escorted Linda Rizika, also a student at the Utica Free Academy, to her high school prom. They stayed together and on Aug. 28, 1960, they married.

As his longtime friend Neal Brown ’58, P’86,’90 recalled, Bob was the only person to achieve a perfect score on the LSAT in 1958; no wonder he attended the University of Michigan Law School. At Ann Arbor, he was assistant editor of the Michigan Law Review and, because of his outstanding academic achievement, was inducted into The Order of the Coif, an honor society for law students who graduated in the top 10% of their class.

After he graduated in 1961, Bob and Linda moved to Hartford, Conn., where he joined the firm of Schatz & Schatz, Ribikoff & Kotkin. Early in 1965, they relocated to Highland Park, Ill., where he started with the law department of Abbott Laboratories. The next year, he moved to the Chicago law firm of Gottlieb & Schwartz and became a partner in 1969. In 1974, he was a founding partner of the firm of Katten, Muchin, Zavis, Pearl, and Galler. He specialized in the law pertaining to closely held corporations.

In 1989, Bob left the legal practice to start a new career in teaching at Loyola University Chicago Law School. During this time, the family moved from Highland Park to Evanston, Ill. He had a less stressful life with new opportunities for personal development, including cultivating an English-style garden and studying literature through Northwestern University’s extension program. Bob was an avid reader. As his son, Philip, recalled in a memorial for his father: “Philip Roth, John Updike, E.B. White, and S.J. Perelman were [his] particular favorites, along with a library’s worth of history books.” 

Linda and Bob both loved Woody Allen’s films, and they made it a point to see each one on its opening day. Bob was also devoted to the Boston Red Sox; for many years, accompanied by his son Philip, he visited the Red Sox’s spring training camp in Fort Myers, Fla. During one trip he chatted with one of his boyhood heroes, the legendary Ted Williams.

Bob was devoted to Hamilton. He was chair of his class’s reunion gift committee, volunteered during the 175th Anniversary Campaign, served on the Alumni Council, and helped the Career Center. Reflecting on his time on the Hill in his 25th reunion yearbook, Bob undoubtedly captured the sentiments of many alumni. “My identification with Hamilton and my appreciation for what it had to offer have both increased over the years. Unfortunately, I have also come to realize the extent to which I failed to avail myself of the opportunities which Hamilton afforded me. However, I console myself that that phenomenon, i.e. heightened awareness of lost opportunities, is simply a function of the onset of middle age.” 

His friend Rabbi Daniel Friedman eulogized Bob thusly: “I loved Bob’s subtle sense of humor, his mind never resting as he probed humanity’s absurdities, seeing through conventions to the truth that is often concealed beneath the mendacity and hypocrisies that he refused to honor. He saw the humor in everything. His quiet laughter just never stopped. Despite the sadness, I smile as I write this, unable to think of Bob without his smile and wondering what he would make of our grief.”

Robert L. Brooks is survived by his wife, son, and granddaughter. He was predeceased by his daughter Eve Brooks ’87, as well as by his cousin Seymour Brooks ’40.

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