Martin Snitzer Obituary

Snitzer, Martin One of Chicago's prominent advertising men passed away on January 26, 2017, after a career that took him from the mailroom to the corner office at the nation's largest advertising agency. He was 91. Martin was a lifelong Chicagoan, except for serving in the U.S. Air Force in World War II and a post-war study at the U of I in Champagne, Illinois where he received a BA in Journalism. Among other duties while training, during the war, he became editor of a camp newspaper and realized a latent interest in writing and expression. His career began in earnest in 1948 when he joined Young & Rubicam as a trainee and met an agency researcher Rosalie Lichtenstein who would be his loving wife for the next 64 years. Sadly, Rosalie passed away earlier this month. In 1958 he joined the Leo Burnett Co. as an account executive and later served in virtually all marketing and advertising posts in the company becoming President of the U.S. division and Chairman of the Executive Committee for the world-wide company. As part of the agency's management he worked with some of the world's leading consumer goods companies on a variety of marketing and advertising campaigns.Among them were such leaders as Procter & Gamble, Pillsbury, Maytag, RCA, Revlon and Star Kist tuna. He was also the leader of the team that developed the legendary Marlboro Country campaign. Following retirement, from Burnett, he worked part time as an international marketing consultant. In addition, he spent three years as a director of the Easter Seal Society and several more as a consultant with the Executive Service Corps working with Chicago area not-for-profit service organizations. He was also an avid golfer, photographer and reader. He is survived by his son, Tom; daughter-in-law, Sharon Sullivan, and three grandchildren, Katherine, Jim, and Julie. A funeral service for Martin and Rosalie will be held on Sunday, February 5th, 10:00 a.m. at the Kelley & Spalding Funeral Home, 1787 Deerfield Rd, Highland Park, IL. In lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to The National Parkinson Foundation Gift Processing Center, PO Box 5018, Hagerstown, MD 21741. For more funeral info or directions please call Kelley & Spalding Funeral Home at (847) 831-4260 or www.kelleyspaldingfuneralhome.com.