Robert Homan Craft Jr.

September 24, 1939 – March 15, 2024
Robert Homan Craft, Jr., respected attorney, active member of both the legal and cultural communities, and beloved husband, father and grandfather, died peacefully at his home in Washington, DC on March 15, 2024, following a five-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 84 years old.

Born on September 24, 1939, in New York City, NY, Bob attended Scarsdale High School, where he was school President his Junior and Senior years. He later attended Princeton University, Oxford University and Harvard Law School.

Bob joined the New York office of law firm Sullivan & Cromwell in 1966. In 1974, he moved to Washington, DC and served for two years as Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of State for Security Assistance and as Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 1977, he helped found Sullivan & Cromwell's Washington office, where he served as Managing Partner from 1987 until his retirement in 2006.

Bob had an outstanding career during which he represented underwriters, including virtually every major investment bank, on securities offerings in the U.S. and global capital markets. He was considered by many as the "go to" lawyer for supranational and government agency issuers, including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the African Development Bank, and Fannie Mae. He also advised on numerous securities offerings by International Finance Corporation, Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF), Federal Home Loan Banks and Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

Outside of his professional pursuits, Bob was actively involved in his community. An avid opera fan, he was particularly devoted to the Washington National Opera, where he served over the years as President, Vice President and General Counsel, and supernumerary in multiple performances. In 1994, Bob and his wife Jamie appeared in a production of Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos with Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia – a moment memorialized in the documentary film RBG.

Bob also served as a member of the Board of Directors of his beloved Camp Dudley, Fundraising Chair and member of the Visiting Committee of Harvard Law School, Co-Chair of the National Patron's Council of Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and President of Friends of the House of Sweden.

He also pursued his love of photography, self-publishing two works of which he was justifiably proud – one on birds and one on the Adirondacks, where he spent nearly 80 summers. But perhaps Bob's favorite title was "Coach Craft" when he coached the ASAP Giants Little League baseball team, on which his son Ford was the team's catcher.

Bob will be remembered for his energy, enthusiasm, generosity and positivity – qualities that he brought to his life as a husband, father of two, grandfather of five, uncle of many, friend, and lawyer. And we will all miss his smile.

He is survived by his wife Jamie; sons Tiger and Ford; and grandchildren Ellie, Olive, Robert, Coco, and James. A funeral mass will be held at Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown on Tuesday, April 30 at 10:30 a.m. A celebration of his life will also take place this summer at Lake Champlain, a place Bob held dear.

The Craft family is grateful to Dr. Valerie Lee at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital for the expert, and personal care he received from her and her team. After five years of treatment, he considered them all dear friends. Donations may be made to their research. Sibley Memorial Hospital | Johns Hopkins Secure eCommerce (jhu.edu).