John F. Bard, age 72, passed away suddenly Nov. 10.

Dearly loved by his wife of nearly 50 years, Barbara A. Bard of Evanston, son Steve (Liz Edrich) of Boise, Idaho, daughter Kristy of Glenview, and five adoring young grandsons: John, Ryan and Luke Taylor, and Pete and Sam Bard.
John was a doting family man, brilliant business executive, and a kind, honest, funny, and generous person.

He graduated in 1963 from Northwestern University, where he met his wife, Bobbie.

He started his business career with Proctor & Gamble Co., eventually rising to CFO of the company's international division.

A former manager then recruited him twice to executive-level positions: first to the Clorox Co. in Oakland, Calif., where he served as group vice president and CFO, and then as president and director at New York-based Tambrands Inc. In 1990, John joined the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. in Chicago.

He retired in 2000 as director, executive vice president, and CFO. John also served on many boards of directors during his career, including Weight Watchers International Inc., the Sun-Times Media Group Inc., the Northwestern University Board of Regents, Keep America Beautiful, Greater North Michigan Avenue Association, and YMCA of Alameda County.

But his family was most important to John.

An avid sports fan and outdoorsman, John took his son and daughter camping, skiing, backpacking, and traveling.
He took on countless responsibilities for helping to raise his five grandsons, ages 5 through 10.
He was there on the sidelines for kids' sporting events, there to teach carpentry and sports, help with homework, play fantasy football, tell stories, take them fishing, care for them during illnesses, etc.

He and his wife planned to spend their 50th wedding anniversary taking the entire family to Alaska in 2014.
John shared his love of sports with his family and attended hundreds of sporting events in his lifetime.
In his first year of relocating to Chicago, he counted attendance at nearly 50 Chicago Cubs and White Sox games alone.

He also was a regular in the stands of Northwestern Wildcats games, and he often joked that he wanted to spend his retirement driving the Zamboni machine at Chicago Blackhawks games.

A celebration of John's life will be held 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, at Jeanne Vail Chapel at Northwestern University, 1870 Sheridan Road, Evanston.

A reception following the service will take place across the street at Scott Hall.

Chicago Tribune
Chicago, Illinois
Wednesday, November 13, 2013