Dennis B. Black

Dennis B. Black died of brain cancer on January 12th at the age of 77. Beloved husband of Joyce, proud father of Adam (Stephanie) and Brian (Heiji), grandfather of Aidan, Aaron, Cyrus, Sebastian, and Thea, dear brother of Buddy (Barb). After South Shore High School he went on to graduate Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Cornell University in 1965. He earned his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1968 where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. Returning to Chicago, he served as a law clerk to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He began his law practice in Chicago at Hopkins & Sutter before joining Goldberg, Kohn, Bell, Black, Rosenbloom & Moritz as a founding member. In 2009, he joined Mesirow Financial as general counsel, served on the firm’s board of directors and became senior advisor to the Chairman. Dennis devoted his time to several organizations including as President of the Standard Club, board member of North Shore Congregation Israel, active member in the Lawyers Division of the Jewish United Fund of Chicago, director of the Cornell University Posse Program in Chicago and member of the Cornell University Council. He was also a longtime member of Briarwood Country Club in Deerfield. He was a class act. Brilliant, non-judgmental, empathetic, a dedicated mentor, he was a great believer in second chances. A loyal friend. An avid reader and gifted artist, he traveled the world, enjoyed jazz and classical music, loved to dance and was famous for his margarita recipe. Funeral service will be private, but can be found streaming Friday Jan.14 at 9 AM at www.asimplestreaming.com/dblack. Interment private. A gathering in his memory is planned for the spring. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the ACLU, www.aclu.org, JUF, www.juf.org, or the Posse Foundation, www.possefoundation.org. For funeral info: 847-256-5700.