Brett Keller Gorman

QUINCY -- Brett Keller Gorman, 48, of 1845 Jersey, Quincy, died Sunday afternoon, June 7, 2015.

Brett was born Nov. 30, 1966, in Urbana, the son of Dennis and Barbara Keller Gorman.

He graduated from Quincy High School in 1985 and the University of Illinois in 1989 with a bachelor of arts degree. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and the Acacia fraternity.

In 1992 he earned his juris doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law and was admitted to the Illinois Bar.

On Jan. 9, 1993, he married Deborah K. Grandcolas in Belleville, and she survives.

For 23 years, Brett practiced law in the area of civil litigation, first with Bullaro, Carton & Stone in Chicago and then, beginning in 1996, with the law firm of Schmiedeskamp, Robertson, Neu & Mitchell LLP in Quincy, where he was a partner.

Brett's professional expertise and scholarly talent as a trial lawyer were recognized in 2013, 2014 and 2015 with the designation of "Super Lawyer" in Illinois in the area of business litigation. Brett served by appointment on the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee since 2008 and had been the committee's chair since 2013.

Brett was licensed in Missouri in 1999 and also was admitted to practice before the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Central, and Southern districts of Illinois, and the Eastern District of Missouri.

He was a member of several professional organizations, including the Defense Research Institute, Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, Illinois State Bar Association, the Missouri Bar and Chicago Bar Association.

Boy Scouts' life lessons and the outdoors were among Brett's greatest passions. He was an Eagle Scout and served on the executive board for the Mississippi Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He chaired the council's principle annual fundraising campaign from 2000 through 2012. He received the Silver Beaver Award in recognition of his service to the Boy Scouts.

Brett was active in other community organizations, where his contributions included serving on the governing boards and/or committees of the CFM Foundation, the J.W. Gardner II Foundation, Vermont Street United Methodist Church, the Adams County Bar Association (president) and the Quincy Country Club (immediate past president).

Survivors in addition to his wife and parents are his three children, Alice, Kate and Anne Gorman; maternal grandmother, Norma Gorman; a sister, Wendy (Tim) Koontz; and two nieces, Megan and Madelyn Koontz, all of Quincy. He also is survived by several aunts and uncles, William and Lynda Keller, Dennis and Marianne Cashman, and Greg and Carol Alster, as well as several cousins.

He was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Bill and Margaret Keller, and paternal grandfather, Dennis W. Gorman Sr.

SERVICES: Private services will be held at the Hansen-Spear Funeral Home, with the Rev. Patrick Smith officiating. Burial will be in Greenmount Cemetery.

VISITATION: There will be no visitation; however, friends are encouraged to express their sympathies with memorials to the Mississippi Valley Council of Boy Scouts.

MEMORIALS: Mississippi Valley Council of Boy Scouts.

ARRANGEMENTS: Hansen-Spear Funeral Home.

WEBSITE: www.hansenspear.com.

Condolences may be expressed online at whig.com.