Gene R. McHam, age 89, formerly of Brooklyn, N.Y., died on October 19 at his home in Princeton, N.J., surrounded by loving members of his family who had nursed him in his final days. He is survived by his wife, Sarah Blake McHam, and five children, Michael McHam of Metuchen, NJ (Antonette), Jeffrey McHam of Castro Valley, CA (Jennifer), Melissa McHam Green of Brooklyn, NY (Geoffrey); stepdaughters, Emily McHam Lambert of Rochester, NY (J. David), and Julia Wilk of San Diego, CA; and eight grandchildren, Natalie and Charlotte McHam, Sam Neal, Henry and Syl Green, Wendell, Charles, and Samuel Lambert.
A Navy ROTC scholarship paid for his undergraduate degree in English literature at Miami University of Ohio, and so Gene spent three years on active duty in the Navy as a Lieutenant (junior grade). He loved telling stories of his escapades, always embellished with the tall tale exaggerations consistent with his Texan origins. Ever after, he happily educated family members in destroyer bridge talk and semaphore poses. Post Navy, he had a distinguished and multifarious career. After graduating from Columbia University as a member of the Law Review (1963), he was hired by Lord, Day & Lord, then an eminent law firm in New York City, where he worked from 1963-1966. Gene was especially proud of his significant contribution to a landmark US Supreme Court case, in which he authored the brief that was ultimately argued before the Court. His work in that case became an important part of Supreme Court jurisprudence, marking a lasting impact on legal precedent. His dedication to justice and his commitment to this pivotal case will remain a defining aspect of his legacy. Herbert Brownell, the former Attorney General of the United States and a senior partner in his firm, enticed him to join the first campaign of John V. Lindsay for mayor of New York City. The victorious Lindsay appointed Gene to be Assistant Corporation Counsel of the City of New York (1966) and Director of the Civilian Complaint Review Board. In his one year there, Gene also supervised the collection of more than $5,000,000 in unpaid traffic tickets to the city.
He soon moved on to the New York Stock Exchange, Inc., where he served as Executive Assistant to its President, Robert W. Haack, and as Vice President in charge of the Direct Clearing Department, which processed NYSE trades for 62 brokerage firms (1966-70). He returned to the private sector as a senior vice president and director of F.S. Smithers & Co., Inc., a securities company, from 1970-73. When Smithers failed, he was hired by the Louis-Dreyfus Corporation, a large grain exporting company, which appointed him as a senior vice president and director, but not before he passed a graphology test in Paris (despite his notoriously illegible handwriting). The Louis-Dreyfus family later became famous to a broader audience through the actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
After six years there, in 1979, Gene co-founded Andrew Peck Associates, Inc., a pioneering discount stock brokerage firm on Wall Street, where he served as Executive Vice-president and Director until his retirement in 1995. Shortly thereafter, he and his associates sold it to Muriel Siebert, the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.
Gene was a lifelong scholar and traveled extensively. He audited enough courses at Princeton, principally in philosophy, to have earned two undergraduate degrees. One of his passions was compiling a more than 200-page commonplace book of favorite quotations from his vast reading as he explored the meaning of life. He will be sorely missed for his sense of humor, learning, tireless curiosity, and generous heart by those who knew him. In lieu of flowers, if you are so inclined, please send contributions to Memorial Sloan Kettering or the New York Public Library.
Arrangements under the direction of The Mather Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.