Deerfield Obituary: Tony Hammer

DEERFIELD, IL — James Anthony Hammer, known to family and friends as Tony, was a 40-year resident of both Deerfield and Highland Park. 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 Chicago for six years and Prestonwood (North Dallas), Texas for two years. 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. 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. Erik runs a venture capital firm for the Chicago Cubs and is an AYSO soccer coach.

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 M.A. 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 speechwriter 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, Perrin and Ernst & Young in Chicago. In post-retirement, he taught college entrepreneurship as well as English/Writing, Humanities and Philosophy.

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 President. They were married Aug. 17, 1975, in Buffalo, NY at the historic Montefiore Club on Delaware Avenue.

Tony was born June 6, 1941, at Harper Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, 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.

Funeral services were held Wednesday, July 19 at Shalom Memorial Chapel and Cemetery in Arlington Heights. Shivas were held after the services.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation http://www.michaeljfox.org/don... or to Northwestern Memorial Foundation. Your gift to Northwestern will support nurses and palliative care at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital.

Donations can be sent to PO Box 734985, Chicago, Illinois 60673-4985 (note Tony Hammer in the memo), made online at https://nmgive.donordrive.com/... or by phone at (833) 443-8663.