Robert William Bjork

BJORK Robert William. Died on October 23 following a long and valiant battle with Parkinson's disease. Born in 1926, he grew up in Yonkers, and after law school, returned to New York City where he worked for the next 50 years as a litigator, prosecutor and eventually as a financial consultant and money manager. He graduated from Roosevelt High School, and went on to Princeton in 1944. He entered the Navy in WW II, serving until 1946 in the Pacific. He returned to Princeton where he became one of the founding members of the acapella group, The Tigertones. He went on to Harvard Law School, graduating in 1952. He returned to New York joining the law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. In 1956, he became an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He returned to private practice with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom in 1958. In 1960, he helped start what is now Mackay Shields Financial in pension fund asset management. Since then, he continued to be a money manager and financial consultant, having sat on the boards of five publically held corporations including Gleason Works, Kollmorgen Corporation and others. More recently, he was on the advisory board for Sageworks, and for the last eight years, he has been affiliated with Jefferson Financial Group of Stamford, CT. He was an active member of his church, an avid sportsman and fly fisherman and an enthusiastic alumnus of the Tigertones, his schools and also of Camp Dudley. Trying to stay fit and active in spite of the ravages of Parkinson's disease, he was an example of grace and courage for many. He is survived by his wife, Patricia Hartwell, M.D., his son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Bjork of Brooklyn, NY, two grandchildren, and two stepchildren, Alison and Geoffrey Hartwell. There will be a Memorial Service at Stanwich Congregational Church, 237 Taconic Road, Greenwich, CT at 4:30 PM. Friday November 11, with a reception following.