Merrill J. Foote's Obituary
June 28, 1936-January 29, 2009 Merrill (“Jerry”) Foote was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Merrill and Bernice Foote, and grew up in the St. Louis area, and then in the Chicago area, where he attended Hammond High School. He earned a BS in Engineering in 1958 from Illinois Institute of Technology while on a work/study program. He received his Doctorate of Business Administration from Indiana University in 1964, after having been awarded a year long fellowship at the IBM Systems Research Institute in New York. While at Indiana, Jerry met and married Janet Voth of Tulsa, Oklahoma. After completing their coursework at Indiana, Jerry and Janet moved to Chicago, where they completed their doctoral dissertations, he taught at Illinois Tech, they made several lifelong friendships, and gave birth to their first two daughters. In1968 the family moved to Dallas, where Jerry joined the SMU Business School faculty and taught computer science and management science. Jerry was also a busy father during this time, and his third daughter was born in 1970. While at SMU Jerry was an active participant in the Business Clinic, in which SMU students interfaced with the business community to problem solve. After leaving SMU, he worked as a consultant to a number of local businesses, and was a co-owner of a chain of bicycle stores called Cycle Spectrum. Jerry was an avid tennis player, traveler, and reader, always up on the latest developments in economics and science and always eager and excited to engage in discussion and debate. Jerry is survived by his wife of forty five years, Janet Voth Foote; his daughter, Amanda Foote Schmidt and son-in-law, Dick Schmidt of Austin, and their daughters, Samantha, Sophie, and Lucy; his daughter, Suzanne Foote Sylvester of Portland, Maine and her sons, Michael Sparks and Benjamin Townsend; his daughter, Hollis Townsend Foote Baird and her husband, Joseph Baird of Atlanta, and their daughter, Abigail Townsend; his sister, Jean Foote Cheek and her husband, John Cheek of Santa Fe; his brother, Theron Foote of Roanoke, Texas; his niece, Jennifer, and nephews, Kevin and Garrett. Jerry was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Shirley Foote, of Country Club Hills, Illinois. A memorial service celebrating Jerry’s life will take place at Restland Wildwood Chapel on Monday, February 2 at 10 a.m. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
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