Funeral Details

Robert B. Shapiro

August 4, 1938 - May 2, 2025

SERVICE INFORMATION

Date and Time

Tuesday, May 6, 2025 at 12 Noon

Service

Chicago Jewish Funerals
Skokie Chapel
8851 Skokie Boulevard
Skokie, Illinois 60077
Get Directions

Clergy

Rabbi Lisa Bellows
Congregation Beth Am
Mirabai Bush

Interment - Private

Shiva

Chicago Jewish Funerals
8851 Skokie Boulevard
Skokie, Illinois 60077
Get Directions
Tuesday from 2PM until 5PM

The service will be livestreamed on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 at 12:00 PM Central Time.
LIVESTREAM


Memorial Contributions

Shriver Center on Poverty Law
67 East Madison Street, Suite 2000
Chicago, Illinois 60603
www.povertylaw.org





OBITUARY

Robert Bernard Shapiro died at home in Chicago on May 2. Born August 4, 1938, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the first child of Moses and Lilly Shapiro. Attended the Horace Mann School, Harvard College, and Columbia Law School. Played guitar and sang at numerous folk-music venues and events in and near Cambridge in the late ’50s. Practiced law in New York, where his pro bono clients included rent strikers in East Harlem and Allen Ginsberg. Taught at Columbia, Northeastern, and University of Wisconsin law schools. Worked for the Department of Transportation during the Johnson administration; protested the Nixon administration while teaching at Madison. Worked as general counsel for the electronics company General Instrument in New York, and then at the pharmaceutical company G.D. Searle in Skokie. Named head of Searle’s new NutraSweet division when that product was approved for sale in the early ’80s; then, in the mid-’90s, became chairman and CEO of Monsanto, after it had acquired Searle. He reshaped both the culture of the company (among many other changes, he made silent meditation retreats available free of charge to any corporate employees who wanted to go, not standard practice in the agricultural-chemical industry of the era) and its mission: he believed, passionately, that food and agriculture biotechnology could and must be used to improve people’s lives everywhere, a message that sounds less controversial now but was challenging to convey to the world at that time. Started a venture-funding group in Chicago, Sandbox Industries, to foster new tech companies. As a young father, he once said his dearest hope for his children was that they might grow up with a sense of humor and a love of music; they did. He is survived by Ginger Farley, his wife; his sister and brother, Susan Garfield and Bill Shapiro; Jim Shapiro and Nina Gordon, his children with his ex-wife Berta Gordon; Kai and Gabe Shapiro, his children with his ex-wife Kemery Bloom; Ginger’s children, Harley Mac Cionaodha and Lydia Link; and four grandchildren. He was predeceased by a number of dogs, most recently a small dachshund named Andy (after the nickname used by E.B. White, another friend of dachshunds), whose own struggle for dignity in the face of advancing age he observed with fond amusement and genuine admiration. A funeral will be held on Tuesday, 12 noon at Chicago Jewish Funerals, 8851 Skokie Blvd., (One block North of Dempster Street) in Skokie. Interment Private. Donations may be made to the Shriver Center on Poverty Law. Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals - Skokie Chapel, 847.229.8822, www.cjfinfo.com


GUEST BOOK

We encourage you to share your personal condolences and stories of Robert B. Shapiro below and we will share them with the family.
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Sending loving thoughts to all of Bobs family members. I was Kai’s first nanny back in St. Louis and will forever be thankful for knowing Bob and his family. Kai brought so much joy to my life, and I will forever love my time with them.
Much Love,
Renee Swope

Renee Swope
May 3, 2025
A true Renaissance man.

Jamee Rosa
May 4, 2025
Shelley and I both loved Bob for many years and are very sad he is gone but grateful to have shared many good and enriching experiences with him and his family and to have learned both from and with him. I knew him well in college when we both were full of hope and ambition and just finding out who we were now separate from our parents. We followed each other's careers and marriages and families. Thankfully, we got to talk several times in recent months, and I felt most his loving and care for Ginger, Jim, Nina, Kai and Gabe and his grandchildren. I think we shared our feeling fortunate and grateful to have had remarkably rich and happy lives. We send our sympathy to Ginger, Jim, Nina , Kai and Gabe and to Susie and Bill and hope over time you have many good memories of Bob and your experiences with him.
With love, Shelley & David

DAVID LEVI
May 4, 2025
Ii met Bob in 1959, when we were both starting at Columbia Law School. I was blessed to have him as a friend for 66 years. He was a loving godfather to my first born. What stands out is his love of family,, which he told me was his greatest source of happiness. He also liked to talk about the great joy he experienced collaborating with his teammates at work. He had a gift for deep friendship. Bob had extraordinarily high standards for himself and strove to be his very best in dealing kindly with others and meeting the demands of his challenging business life. His brilliance is a footnote to a remarkable life.

Arnold Levine
May 5, 2025
What I will remember about Bob is his kind heart and sharp mind. His intentional focus on diverse learners was profound. A man who truly had an impact on humanity will be greatly missed. He took a personal interest in the causes he championed. The loss his family faces is immeasurable but as Ginger so poignantly stated he died with “the loving flowing.” In the words of E.B. White , “by helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”
With deepest gratitude and sorrow for his family.
Rita

Rita Nolan
May 5, 2025
Dear Ginger ,
My heartfelt condolences to you and your family 🙏🏾 May Bob rest in peace . From what I read Bob must have been an amazing person whose void cannot be filled .
Words cannot offer anything soothing at this moment of grief !
My prayers are with you 🙏🏾

Hema Rajagopalan
May 5, 2025
Bob is wonderful in so many and will be missed. He was a mentor to me in business and life. My deepest condolences to Ginger, Jim, Nina, Kai, and Gabe. Kind regards, Tom Hawes (Sandbox Industries)

Tom Hawes
May 5, 2025