- Noreen O'Leary

Bryan Jay Yolles, evp, chief growth officer at Universal McCann, died Dec. 16 after a battle with cancer. The 60-year-old Greenwich, Conn., resident had been on a leave of absence while receiving treatment.

In a statement, Yolles' family said: “His passion and strength for life was contagious, his humor addictive and his drive for excellence unstoppable. A loving husband and father, marathon runner, lawyer and advertising executive, he will be sorely missed.”

Yolles joined Interpublic Group’s UM in 2007 after serving as evp, chief marketing officer at Southfield, Mich.-based Doner, where he worked for 15 years. Earlier this year, Yolles filed a high-profile lawsuit against Doner to obtain information regarding his pension.

He received a B.A. from the University of Michigan Honors College, where he was also an Angell Scholar; an M.A. in history from Northwestern University; and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. Yolles was a speaker and writer in a number of fields, authoring medical and legal articles for publications such as The New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Yolles is survived by his wife Barbara, an evp, managing director at Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners; a sister, chief judge Wendy Potts of Oakland County, Mich.; two children from his first marriage: James and Andrew; two step-children, Zachary and Michael Shaben; and the two children he had with Barbara: Alex and David.

His funeral service will be held Sunday, Dec. 20 at 10:30 a.m. at the Ira Kaufman Chapel in Southfield, followed by internment at the Clover Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham, Mich.

A memorial service is planned in Greenwich in January.

His family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to the Bryan and Barbara Yolles Research Professorship at the University of Michigan, 2110 Taubman Center, 1500 E. Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor, Mich., 48109.