Robert L. Darcy, a retired professor of economics and former resident of Berwyn and Stickney, died May 29, in Wheaton, IL. He was 93.
A graduate of Haley School in Stickney and Morton High School, Cicero, he attended Morton Jr. College and, after World War II service, received his B.A. degree from Knox College. With further interruption for Korean War service, he went on to earn an M.A. from Indiana University and Ph. D. from the University of Colorado, both in economics.
Robert’s military assignments included 12 months as a paratrooper sergeant in the Army of Occupation Japan, 1946-47, and during 1951-53 as 1st Lt. in Psychological Warfare, UN Command, in Japan and Korea.
He later gained valuable business experience – and climbed 14,000 – foot peaks in the Rocky Mountains – while employed for three years in corporate management in Denver. His academic career included teaching and research at Ohio University, Ohio State University, and Colorado State University, where he produced books, articles, and research reports in the fields of youth employment, economic education, and economic development. The Economic Process was published in 1986. Robert’s professional activities also took him to Central America, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the People’s Republic of China on assignments for the World Bank. U.S. Departments of Treasury and Labor and other agencies.
An enthusiastic tennis player for five decades, he coped in recent years with painful musculo-skeletal problems. His personal interested included travel to historic sites such as Machu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes and Petra in Jordan, studies of philosophy and depth psychology, ethics and religion, and writing poetry. In 1999 he completed and donated to Chicago’s Newberry Library a Darcy history tracing his family’s Irish ancestry.
Robert’s parents arrived in the western suburbs in the early 1920s from Nebraska and lived in the Chicago area for many years.
Darcy was preceded in death by his father Robert M. (Bob), mother Mabel Marcum Darcy, and brother Bill E. He is survived by his son Timothy, daughters Kathleen, Roberta, and Laura, and six grandchildren. Interment is in the family gravesite at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Stickney.
