Necrology

Elbert “Bert” Osborne Hand, III '61

May. 10, 1939-Feb. 25, 2024

Elbert “Bert” Osborne Hand, III ’61, P’91 died on Feb. 25, 2024, at his home on Spring Island, S.C. Born on May 10, 1939, in Scarsdale, N.Y., and raised in Ardsley-on-Hudson and Irvington, N.Y., he came to Hamilton from the Hackley School located in nearby Terrytown. On the Hill, he majored in English literature and was a member of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, serving as the chapter’s president in his senior year.

In his first year, Bert performed with the Charlatans and, as a sophomore, was on the staff of The Continental. During his junior and senior years, he played on the College’s squash team and was in Hamilton’s chapter of the honorary journalism fraternity, Pi Delta Epsilon. In his final year he was a member of the Student Senate and Nous Onze. 

Even before he came to Hamilton, Bert had chosen his career path. On his admission application he wrote that his interests lay in “business — selling, retail, or wholesale.” His aspiration had him following in his father’s footsteps: Upon graduating, Bert worked for McGregor Sportswear, where his father was vice president for sales. He lived initially in Washington, D.C. 

In 1964, he joined the sales force at Hart, Schaffner & Marx, based in Chicago, and then the nation’s leading manufacturer of men’s suits. Bert’s first sales territory consisted of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and, as he would recall in his 50th reunion yearbook, constituted “an interesting experience for a New York boy at that time.”

In 1965, he returned to Chicago, having married Elizabeth Howard of Tarboro, N.C., on May 5. They had two daughters. 

By 1967, he had been named national sales manager of the Sterling & Hunt Division of Hart, Shaffner & Marx. Over the next 20 years, he rose through the ranks to become president and chief operating officer of what was then known as HartMarx Corp. 

His first marriage ended in divorce, and in 1984 he married Ann McSpadden, a native of Electra, Texas, who taught English at Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas. That same year he earned an Executive Master of Business Administration at Northwestern University.

In 1992, he was elected chairman of its board of directors and chief executive officer of Hartmarx at a time when the company faced a crisis. The corporation had two operating divisions, one manufacturing clothing marketed under a number of brands (including Hickey-Freeman and Austin Reed) and its retail businesses (including Capper & Capper, Wallach, and Baskin). The recession of 1990 had been devastating. Men’s formal wear was no longer as profitable as it had been, and retail outlets were losing money. Bert’s solution was to develop products to sell to younger buyers — sportswear and casual clothing — and to create new brands under which to sell them, including a line of golf wear under the labels of Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus. Concurrently, he sold off more than 300 retail stores and moved much of the manufacturing offshore to Chile, Costa Rica, and Mexico.

Business improved significantly as it now focused on manufacturing, not only of its premium labels but also its less expensive lines. While Nordstrom continued to stock the upscale Hickey-Freeman and Hart, Schaffner & Marx labels, now Sears, Roebuck, & Co. sold the separate, more budget-friendly line. By 1996, thanks to Bert’s leadership, HartMarx was flourishing again.

 Bert was also a prominent civic-minded Chicago business leader. He was a member of the board and also chairman of Music of the Baroque, a Chicago-based musical ensemble devoted primarily to music of the 17th and 18th centuries and, in addition, at different times was on the board of the Chicago Academy of Sciences and on the University of Illinois Business Advisory Council. He also served on Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business Advisory Board and on the University of Illinois at Chicago Chancellor’s Advisory Board. In 2002, Bert was elected to the board of directors of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., an international insurance brokerage and risk management business.

Bert’s retirement came in two stages. In 2001, he stepped down as CEO of Hartmarx and, two years later, ended his chairmanship of the company’s board of directors. He could now devote more time to his passions. 

After living in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago for five decades, in 2008, he and Ann moved to the Northern Chicago suburb of Lake Bluff. They also had homes in Dune Acres, Ind., on Lake Michigan, and on Spring Island. He was an avid golfer, playing on numerous courses in greater Chicago and South Carolina, and at Royal Troon in Scotland where he was a member. For much of his life, Bert was an avid fly fisherman, both on Canadian lakes and on the ocean where Atlantic salmon were of particular interest. He hunted game birds and was both an avid squash player and member of the Racket Club of Chicago where, in both 1984 and 1985, he was part of a doubles team that won the club’s championship.

He did not lose his interest in clothing. In 2014, at the age of 75, he launched a new line of men’s golfing apparel titled Alister Mackenzie, named for a leading British golfer. 

His devotion to Hamilton was demonstrated in numerous ways. He was a New Century Campaign volunteer, a member of the Alumni Council, a generous donor to and free agent for the Hamilton Fund, a member of his class’s reunion gift committee as well as the College’s major gift committee, and an officer of the Alumni Association. From 1994 to 2000, he was a charter trustee of the College and for many years was a steward of the Illinois Scholarship Foundation Trust, which provided financial aid to two or three Hamilton students from that state.

As Bert reflected in his 50th reunion yearbook, the College had a lasting effect on him: “Hamilton’s communications requirements developed speaking and writing skills that have been invaluable. The ‘yes’ and ‘no’ [in-class written] essays of English 101 being indelible. While Hamilton was not a place to learn how to make a living, it certainly provided an exposure and a foundation on how to live.”

Elbert O. Hand is survived by his brother Scott Hand ’64, two daughters, including Sarah Hand ’91, and three grandchildren. Ann died on May 6, 2024, not quite three months after Bert.

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