Rev. John Shaw Broeksmit Jr.

Rev. John Shaw Broeksmit Jr., 90, died Aug. 22, in Chicago. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Jane Murray Broeksmit, of Chicago; six children: Laura Broeksmit Downing of Seattle, WA; Peter of Dwight, IL; William of London; John of Brooklin, ME; Samuel of Washington, D.C.; and Robert of Chevy Chase, MD; two sisters; and eleven grandchildren. Rev. Broeksmit was born in 1920 in Chicago, the son of John and Mary Broeksmit. He was raised in Chicago and Lake Forest and graduated from the Hotchkiss School in CT in 1938 and from Yale University in 1942. He served as a lieutenant on destroyer escorts in the Navy during World War II and received a letter of commendation from the Secretary of the Navy for his role in the sinking of a German U-Boat. He spent eight years as a buyer at Sears, Roebuck and Company in Chicago and then entered Chicago Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1956. He was ordained into the ministry by the United Church of Christ in 1956. He was minister of First Congregational Church in Galva, IL from 1956 to 1965. He was a pastoral assistant at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest and taught at Lake Forest Academy from 1967 to 1972. He was minister at the First Congregational Church of Dwight from 1972 to 1988 and was also a member of the staff at Fox Developmental Center in Dwight from 1975 to 1997. He was a member of the University Club of Chicago and The Chicago Literary Club and was a long-time member of Rotary International. A memorial service will be held in Oct. at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago.