John Corkery was an attorney and a distinguished one, a frequent radio and TV legal expert, a powerful courtroom presence, and an admired teacher and administrator. He was much more.
“John was a performer at heart,” said his wife, Denise Corkery, an advertising executive. “He always referred to teaching his law classes as giving ‘five performances a week.’”
Corkery died at home in Chicago on Nov. 27, on Thanksgiving morning. He had been on home hospice care for a lengthy battle with brain cancer, with which he had been diagnosed in 2019. He was 82.
“He died peacefully, without pain,” Denise said.
Born in 1943 in St. Louis, Corkery was the eldest of eight children. He earned a bachelor’s degree at St. Louis University in 1964 and his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 1967. Smitten with Chicago, he would make the city his home.
He and Denise met in the late 1980s through a mutual friend, but did not marry until 2005. “I had been lucky in love, but was incredibly lucky that John Corkery waited for me,” said Denise. “And what a year that was. We got engaged and married, moved from his home of 30-plus years into a loft in the West Loop, and he became acting dean of the John Marshall Law School.”
Corkery would eventually become dean and later dean emeritus of what is now the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.
Corkery designed and built a vacation home in Michigan. He and Denise spent a lot of time there and also did a lot of traveling, mostly to many places in Europe and on his own for law school duties to China several times, Taiwan, and the Czech Republic.
During most of his years here, Corkery spent time at a couple of notable taverns, the bygone O’Rourke’s and still active Old Town Ale House. Never a serious drinker, he relished the characters, comfort and lively conversations at such places, which drew crowds heavy in journalists, theater folks and other creative types.
“John was a fascinating and well-read conversationalist,” said writer and visual artist Bruce Elliott, a tavern friend. “He loved sports, had season tickets to the Cubs for many years and we went to many Bulls’ games together. We played basketball every once in a while, with a wide variety of friends. He seemed to know and be friendly with people from all walks of life.”
Corkery’s creative spark was on display for more than three decades as one of the writers and performers in the Chicago Bar Association’s “Christmas Spirits” show. This is an annual revue with an all-lawyer cast that uses parodies of pop songs and selections from Broadway musicals to make fun of people and events in the news over the previous 12 months, particularly politicians and political events.
Corkery was a law student when seeing his first show, “Tenets Anyone?” in 1966 at the Edgewater Beach Hotel. Within a few years he had become part of the core creative team, along with attorneys Julian Frazin, Phil Citrin and Len Rubin.
“It brought him great joy over the next three decades,” said Frazin. “He had a sly, dry wit which we always compared to that of radio comic Fred Allen.”
Frazin recalled many of Corkery’s contributions, from writing songs to acting.
“One of his most memorable lyrics and roles was as Bears general manager Jim Finks singing to ‘Send in the Clowns,’” said Frazin. “He played Ted Kennedy singing ‘Bridge Over Troubled Waters,’ and several times took the roles of George Ryan, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Jim Thompson and Dan Rostenkowski.”
As Corkery once told a reporter about the yearly shows, “We want to be funny without being mean and nasty.”
Off stage, Corkery often played matchmaker. Says Julian Frazin’s wife, Rhona, “John was known to play cupid on more than one occasion. Notably, in 1989, when Julian and I were both going through separations from our long-time spouses. John would take us each to the movies (separately) and dinner once a week. Finally, he suggested that the two of us just go to the movies together. That worked, and we’ve been together for 35 years.”
She also credits Corkery with steering her to some of the high-profile non-profit executive roles she held before recently retiring as the Chicago Library Foundation’s president and CEO.
Corkery’s legal focus was on the rules of evidence and family law. He also participated in committees focused on legal and judicial ethics.
“John was a great mentor and friend,” said former colleague and law professor Anthony Niedwiecki. “I served as his associate dean, and he taught me how to stay positive even during the toughest of times. He taught me how to enjoy life while having a difficult job.”
It was always a pleasure to run into Corkery, usually tucked on a stool in one of his favorite taverns or at the Union League Club. Distinctively dressed in coat and tie, he always offered a sunny disposition and lively conversation.
Backstage at the bar association show in 1999, Corkery was asked by Tribune reporter Paul Galloway, “Why do you do this?”
Corkery answered, “It’s the closest thing to being back in high school that I can think of. … Not every lawyer gets to perform. Not even every trial lawyer goes to trial all the time. But much of the appeal is probably the release it gives to people who work in a very serious business.”
In addition to his wife, Corkery is survived by daughter Lesley Young; sisters Mary Regina Dick, Suzanne Stevens, Ruth Lattrace and 10 nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by three brothers and one sister. Services are 10 a.m. Friday at Old St. Patrick’s Church in Chicago.
rkogan@chicagotribune.com
