Ex-Sears CEO dead at 73
In 1956, a young and impressionable Sears sales associate named Edward A. Brennan stood in awe as the manager of the Madison, Wis., store said the company had earned $2.5 billion in sales the year before.
"I remember thinking $2.5 billion! Have I come too late?" then-retiring Brennan had said in May 1995 as he presided over his last annual meeting as Sears CEO. "Now, as I look at this company (then with $54.5 billion), I say to myself, truly the best is yet to come."
Brennan, who was responsible for changing the face of Sears and moving its headquarters to Hoffman Estates, died Thursday at his home in Burr Ridge. He was 73.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Brennan family during this difficult time," Sears spokeswoman Kim Freely said.
Brennan retired from Sears, Roebuck & Co. as chairman and chief executive officer in August 1995 after a 39-year career. At that last shareholder meeting, he told a Daily Herald reporter "I would like to be remembered as an agent of change that was responsible for the company in an era where the business was evolving."
Sears certainly did evolve.
A 1955 graduate of Marquette University, Brennan started with Sears in 1956 selling men's clothing in Madison. He followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, Luke Brennan, who worked beside founder Richard Sears at the headquarters on Chicago's West Side, and where his father, Edward J., four uncles and a brother had all worked as buyers.
He held many positions over the years and in 1986 became chairman and CEO, a post he held until his retirement in 1995. He was responsible for the Sears Merchandise Group, Allstate Insurance Co., Dean Witter Reynolds and the Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group. He presided over the sale of Dean Witter and Coldwell Banker in 1992 and the spin-off of Allstate in 1994.
In 1989, Brennan, along with then-Gov. James Thompson and Hoffman Estates Village President Michael J. O'Malley, announced with great fanfare that Sears would move from the Sears Tower in downtown Chicago to 800 acres along the Northwest Tollway in Hoffman Estates.
Brennan also served on the boards of Exelon Corp. and McDonald's Corp.
"Ed was a true leader and a man of great integrity. He made a tremendous contribution to McDonald's," McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner said in a statement Friday. "His strong leadership and experience were absolutely invaluable to us."
In addition, Brennan served on the boards of Allstate, 3M, Morgan Stanley, and AMR (parent of American Airlines). He was executive board chairman of AMR in 2003 when American Airlines was on the brink of bankruptcy and then-CEO Don Carty was pressured to leave.
Brennan also was chairman of the board of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and a member of the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation Board.
In addition to his wife, Lois, Brennan leaves six children: Edward J., Cindy B. Walls, Sharon B. Lisnow, Donald A., John L. and Linda B. Thode.
His wake is at 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Adolf's funeral home, 7000 Madison Ave., Willowbrook. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Old St. Pat's Church, 700 W. Adams St., Chicago. Burial will be private.