Galvin remembered as loving family man, sports enthusiast

Under gold chandeliers inside a Winnetka church Tuesday, former Motorola Inc. CEO Bob Galvin was remembered as not only an innovative business leader, but also as a loving and devoted father and grandfather who enjoyed spending time with his family just as much as floating idly in a pontoon boat with a generous portion of cheese puffs.

What is Heaven going to be like with Bob Galvin? mused on of his sons during a eulogy. Well, the sportsman likely was taking a ski chairlift to Heaven and quizzing others, “What was the most important question you ever asked in your life?” joked Michael Galvin.

Robert William Galvin, the retired CEO and son of Motorola Inc.'s founder, died on Oct. 11, just two days after turning 89. His burial earlier Tuesday morning was private, but a Catholic Mass and tribute held later that evening had standing room only at Saints Faith, Hope and Charity Church in Winnetka. Celebrants were Monsignor Kenneth Velo, who was vice chancellor and executive assistant to the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, and the Rev. Robert S. Pelson, a Galvin friend since high school.

The service also included a special appearance by Israeli violinist Vadim Gluzman, who has performed with the Chicago Symphony, London Philharmonic and others. He performed Bach's “Adagio from Sonata No. 1 in G Minor” on a violin Antonio Stradivari of Cremona made in 1690.

More than a 1,000 friends, family and colleagues from as far away as California, Arizona, Texas and Washington, D.C., packed the church. Four hundred Motorolans, past and present, paid their respects during a wake on Sunday and 1,500 more filed in Monday at the funeral home in Skokie, said Evelyn Laxgang, president of Laxgang Consulting in Palatine. She had worked at Motorola for about 20 years and now consults for Galvin's son Christopher Galvin, a former Motorola CEO and now chairman of Harrison Street Capital LLC in Chicago.

“He was a great man, and this is a testament by all the people here paying their respects,” she said about the elder Galvin.

Keith Bane of Lake in the Hills left behind a law career with Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago to work for about 30 years with Bob Galvin.

“He asked me to raise my right hand and to promise to never practice law again and I'll have you as a business executive for as long as you want,” said Bane, who retired in 2003 as Motorola president of corporate development and global strategy.

Christopher Galvin said his father had a special charisma unlike anyone he's ever known.

“He was very sensitive and highly interested in people,” he told the Daily Herald. “He was really interested in them and, in turn, engaged in a lot of gestures, like holding open a door, getting chairs for people in the middle of a meeting. He really endeared himself to people.”

While the family maintained a home in the Barrington area, they also had a boat on Fox Lake and a cottage in Lake Geneva, Wis., where they enjoyed various water sports. They also spent many holidays, such as Christmas, skiing in Colorado, Christopher Galvin said.

His father's curiosity about history was evident just before the country's bicentennial, when the family invited professors from some universities to join them during six dinners. Each dinner discussed a specific historical topic, including the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence, all leading up the Fourth of July 1976.

“He wanted to know how the Founding Fathers came up with their ideas,” Christopher Galvin said.

Such discussions also continued in Turkey when the family invited another professor to join the trip for historical discussions during the 1980s. It was on one such trip that the elder Galvin saw a museum dedicated to glassmaking techniques dating back to before Christ. That's how he got the idea to establish a museum on electronics at Motorola's global headquarters in Schaumburg, Christopher Galvin said.

In addition to his sons, Galvin is survived by his wife of 67 years, Mary Barnes Galvin, his daughters Gail Galvin Ellis and Dawn Galvin Meiners, 13 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

While Christopher Galvin talked about his father's love for the company and his family, Michael Galvin teased about his father's love of ideas, debates on history and even his enjoyment of sports, including tennis, snow skiing, water skiing and windsurfing.

“If there are no mountains with powder for skiing (in Heaven), then St. Peter will be in for a very long meeting,” Michael Galvin said.