In Memoriam - William Gorman

William E. Gorman: 1923 - 2006 ; Longtime DePaul professor; He also played piano, started own big band

William E. Gorman directed his own band in gigs at West Side clubs to help pay for college, earning a doctorate before a long career as a teacher of education and counseling at DePaul University.  Dr. Gorman, 82, died on Thursday, Aug. 3, at Rush North Shore Medical Center of complications following surgery, his son Brian said.  Dr. Gorman taught at DePaul from 1956 until his retirement in 1993, according to Rev. Thomas Munster, DePaul's vice chancellor. Earlier, he taught English at DePaul Academy, the institution's high school, which closed in 1968.  He served at various times as president of counseling organizations, including the Illinois Guidance and Personnel Association. As a professor in DePaul's graduate program, he taught many teachers in Chicago's public and private schools who had gone to DePaul for their master's degrees, Munster said.  "He was very popular with the students in the school of education," Munster said.

Dr. Gorman also was a founder of the Illinois Association for Adult Development and Aging, since 1995 a division of the Illinois Counseling Association.  Dr. Gorman grew up on the West Side, the son of a golf professional who owned several golf courses in the Chicago area, Brian Gorman said. A piano player, he started his own big band, which he called the Bill Gorman Orchestra, while still in high school. He led a trio after World War II, playing clubs on the West Side and elsewhere in town to help pay his college tuition, his son said.  Pearl Harbor was bombed during his freshman year at DePaul. He joined the Army and was assigned to a stateside position with the Signal Corps. He became an expert in codes and communications that led to his being assigned to the Office of Strategic Services, a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency.  

He married Margaret Simonian in 1946 and completed his bachelor's degree work at DePaul, immediately starting as an English teacher at DePaul Academy in 1948. He got his master's from DePaul in 1951 and his doctorate five years later from Northwestern University's School of Education.  Charles Johanns, who was a student in Dr. Gorman's English class at DePaul Academy in 1953, said Dr. Gorman encouraged an interest in literature and also used the work of great writers to help his students improve their own writing.  "He was also one of those teachers who could be diverted from the topic at hand on occasion to talk about what interested him and interested the students, such as history, current events," Johanns said.  Dr. Gorman lived in the Edgebrook neighborhood for 50 years and continued to enjoy playing an upright piano in his home. He spent much of his time after retirement at a second home in Sarasota, Fla. His wife died in 1999.

Mr. Gorman is also survived by a daughter, Cheryl Sublette; a sister, Elaine Rosso; and five grandchildren.  Services have been held.

Chicago Tribune, Aug 8, 2006, pg. 5, Trevor Jensen, Tribune staff reporter