Paul Purcell, chairman of the board and former president and CEO of Robert W. Baird & Co., died Feb. 28 in Sarasota, Fla., of complications from cancer, a Baird spokeswoman confirmed. He was 73.
Mr. Purcell joined Baird in 1994 and became president and chief operating officer in 1998, taking on the CEO role two years later. From 2006 until 2014, he served as chairman, president and CEO before relinquishing the president title and served as chairman and CEO before Steve Booth became CEO in 2016.
Mr. Purcell was also chairman of the University of Notre Dame Mendoza School of Business advisory council and served on numerous other boards and committees, including that of the United Way of Greater Milwaukee, United Performing Arts Fund boards and the Greater Milwaukee Committee board and executive committees.
Mr. Purell received an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1971 and spent 22 years with Kidder, Peabody & Co., where he was a managing director and head of its Midwest investment banking group, before joining Baird.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School or Tisch MS Research Center of New York.
Visitation will take place from 2 to 7 p.m. CST March 8 at Sullivan Funeral Home, 60 S. Grant Street, Hinsdale, IL 60521.