William Hummer

1924 - 2015

William "Bill" Bowman Hummer, age 91, passed away on Sunday, Nov 22, 2015, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital as the result of a heart attack. Bill was the beloved husband of Melanie nee Sayles, father of Grant and Merritt, brother of Philip, brother-in-law of Lynn Hummer and Melody Sayles, uncle of Anne Johnson Greaney, Neville Johnson, Peter Johnson, Wayne Hummer III, Kathy Offley, Elizabeth Hummer, Brooke Mower, and Helen Feid. He was pre-deceased by siblings Mary Hummer, Wayne Hummer Jr., and Barbara Johnson. Bill was born on August 4, 1924 in LaSalle, Illinois. He attended LaSalle-Peru High School and Princeton University, graduating in 1948 with an A.B. in Economics with honors. He served as an editor of the Daily Princetonian and was a member of the Quadrangle Club. His college years were interrupted by his military service in the U.S. Army Air Corps in England during World War II. He began his career as a journalist at the Journal of Commerce and the Washington Times-Herald, but it was interrupted again by a call to serve his country in the Korean War as a counterintelligence officer. After discharge in 1952, he joined the investment firm Wayne Hummer & Co, which had been founded by his father in 1931. He developed a broad understanding of economics by visiting government officials and central bankers on a regular basis in the U.S. and abroad. He was a writer for Bankers Monthly and authored Bank Bond Comment, a newsletter distributed nationwide to over 11,000 community bankers, for many decades. He was Chairman of LaSalle National Bank in LaSalle, Illinois from 1980 to 1998. A Chicago Tribune article featured Bill as one of the "Most Eligible Bachelors in Chicago" in the 1950s, but he did not marry until April 7, 1984, in Portland, Oregon at the age of 59. His friends were amazed and delighted to see him become a father at the age of 61 and again at age 63. He was a contributor to eight national economic forecasting panels, including Blue Chip Economic Indicators, Blue Chip Financial Forecasts, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Bloomberg, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. In 1990, he won the Blue Chip Economic Indicators Award for forecasting accuracy sponsored by Sterling National Bank in New York. He achieved the most accurate forecasting record in the history of the award at that time. He attributed his forecasting success to his being in touch with the real world of investors and markets. Bill worked as a financial advisor and Chief Economist at Wayne Hummer Investments (now Wintrust Wealth Management) for 63 years. His concern for his many clients kept him going. He was a "customer's man" to the end, having lunch with a client a few days before his heart stopped. A believer in W. Clement Stone's positive mental attitude (PMA) philosophy, Bill will be remembered for spreading love and goodness wherever he went. He was quite gregarious, striking up conversations with elevator passengers and strangers everywhere. Bill recently said that he had never been happier. For information regarding the memorial gathering on Dec 16, please contact mshummer@aol.com. Donations in lieu of flowers would be appreciated and can be made to Northwestern Memorial Foundation or PAWS Chicago.