Judd A. Weinberg passed away peacefully on February 20, 2020. He was born in Chicago on April 7, 1926, to Jacob H. Weinberg, a founder of Oxxford Clothes, a manufacturer of fine men's suits, and Sophie Weinberg, an early proponent of women's education, who worked with Jane Addams at Hull House. Judd was the youngest of three children following two older sisters Audrey and Dorothy.

His intellectual brilliance and sound judgement were evident from an early age, and his family began seeking his advice on difficult issues when he was only 13 years old. He continued to be a source of wisdom and inspiration to his family for the next eight decades.

In 1943 at the age of 17, he was the top student in the Chicago Public Schools' summer schools. Assuming he would be entering military service, he decided to stay close to home and matriculated at Northwestern University. As fate would have it, he was not accepted for military service because of knees damaged from track and other sports.

Attending Northwestern University at a time when there were still quotas limiting the number of Jewish students, he was elected the first Jewish president of the Inter-Fraternity Council, where he wisely led the Council to eliminate physical hazing.

Upon graduating Northwestern, he joined his father at Oxxford Clothes.

Soon after that, he met Marjorie Gottlieb. It was love at first sight. He immediately wanted to ask her to marry him but forced himself to wait patiently – for three days. She said yes. They were married for 43 years until her death from cancer in 1993. During the 11 years they bravely fought the disease, he never left her side.

In 1953, he left Oxxford to join D. Gottlieb & Co., a manufacturer of pinball machines founded by his father-in-law, David Gottlieb. He arrived at the factory by 7:30 a.m. every morning to see the change in shift. He quickly rose to become President and CEO of D. Gottlieb & Co., taking the business into global markets and growing it tenfold. In 1976, he sold the company to Columbia Pictures Industries, on whose board he later served. At the time of the sale of D. Gottlieb & Co., the company had over 1,000 employees on two continents, and when he walked through the company's main factory, he knew most of his employees and many of their children by name.

In 1998, Northwestern named its largest unit the Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences in recognition of his philanthropy and leadership. His other philanthropic endeavors most notably were Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park, IL, whose board he helped recruit and oversee; the Ravinia Festival Association; Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hospital; and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.

Together with his wife, Marjorie, he gave spectacular parties with the theme of the Wizard of Oz, Marjorie's favorite, and countless summer parties where guests were given song sheets and expected to sing along to show tunes from their favorite Broadway productions.

Mr. Weinberg is survived by three sons––David (Lynne), Richard (Diane), and Jack (Sheila); eight grandchildren––Julia, Jane, and Jon (Lily) Weinberg, Melissa (Eric) Von Hoffmann, Rachael (Kevin) Pugh, Joshua Weinberg, Adam (Samantha) Weinberg, and Jason Weinberg; and six great-grandchildren––Joshua and Charles Swinney, Emmet and Otis Pugh, and Shaw and Astra Weinberg.

Funeral services will be held on Sunday, February 23, 2020, 2:00 PM at North Shore Congregation Israel, 1185 Sheridan Road, Glencoe, IL 60022. Interment will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, IL.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences of Northwestern University, the Women's Auxiliary of Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, or the charity of your choice. Information: Weinstein & Piser Funeral Home, 847-256-5700.