Brand Marketing Chicago Ad Exec Richard Roberts Dies at 56 By Adweek Staff|January 6, 2010Share By Adweek Staff|January 6, 2010Share Ad exec Richard J. Roberts died on Dec. 25 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Lurie Cancer Center in Chicago. He was 56. He began his career at Carr-Liggett Advertising in Cleveland. He later moved to Chicago to become an account executive at D’Arcy MacManus & Masius. Other stops included JWT, Zeckman & Associates, Killian Wallace and Heisler & Grout. He launched his own agency in the 1990s. Roberts began working for the Illinois Chamber of Commerce in 2003 and was appointed director, development and sponsorship marketing in 2007 as well as vp, strategic development and management of the Illinois Chamber’s Foundation. He leaves three sisters: Catherine, Joan and Margaret; and two brothers: William and Patrick. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory can be made to the American Cancer Society: www.cancer.org. Adweek Adweek