RISMEDIA, November 19, 2010—Robert K. (Bob) McCord of Paradise Valley, Ariz., passed away peacefully on November 13, 2010 after a long and courageous battle with serious health issues. When Bob passed, his loving wife, Sharon, was by his side at the Sherman Hospice Home on the Mayo Clinic Campus.
Bob was born in the state of Washington on October 18, 1938 to Robert J. McCord and Florence Buller, who preceded him in death.
He was a great and inspiring leader who achieved tremendous success in his business career and he and his wife, Sharon Dupont McCord, generously gave back to and supported their community in many ways and participated and donated to numerous charitable agencies, foundations and educational institutions.
At the time of his death, Bob was retired. He began his career as a Certified Public Accountant and became a partner at the international accounting firm Arthur Andersen. He went on to develop residential and commercial real estate projects and owned Coldwell Banker Success Realty, serving as president and chief executive officer of the company from 1992-2005. Under his leadership, Success Realty grew to become one of Coldwell Banker’s largest franchisees with more than 40 offices and 2,200 sales associates. Coldwell Banker Success was one of the largest residential real estate brokerage firms in Arizona and the company was ranked among the top 20 real estate brokerage companies in the United States, according to REAL Trends magazine.
Bob’s leadership was instrumental in Coldwell Banker Success Realty’s perennial designation as a member of the Chairman’s Circle, an honor reserved for the top 5% of affiliates in the Coldwell Banker international franchise network. In 2003 and 2004, Coldwell Banker Success received the two most prestigious awards bestowed on principal members of the Cartus Broker Network—the Cartus Cup and Cartus Masters Cup—for exceptional quality and service levels for relocation clients. Bob was also an innovator in the real estate industry, and with his guidance, the company launched its Coldwell Banker Exito Realty division in 2003 in order to better serve the Spanish-speaking market. In 2005, Coldwell Success Realty was purchased by NRT, Inc. one of the largest residential real estate brokerage firms in the nation. Bob went on to serve as Chairman of NRT’s Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage operations in Arizona until his retirement in 2007.
Bob’s long list of credits include being the first invitational Professor to Arizona State University in 1977 and a National Merit Scholar graduating in the top 1% of accounting graduates in the United States. Bob was also past president of Paradise Valley Country Club, Member of the Division of Real Estate Advisory Board and Honorary Advisory Board for the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
He loved golf, reading, fishing, watching sports and traveling to many countries with his beloved Sharon, most recently to New Zealand where he bungee jumped and then South Africa on Safari. He especially enjoyed their La Jolla home near the ocean and spending time with family and friends when they visited.
Bob and Sharon loved being able to support so many Arizona agencies providing financial support and promoting volunteerism in the areas of housing, education and social services. Bob and Sharon have been extremely generous contributors and supporters to many charitable foundations including Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University, and Stanford University.
Bob and Sharon endowed the McCord Scholars, a scholarship program for business students at Arizona State University, University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University.
Bob and Sharon are also honorary chairs for the Arizona State University President’s Club and members of the Dean’s Council of 100 for ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business.
In keeping with their personal philosophy of philanthropy and that collaboration between institutions leads to faster and better results than they can achieve independently, Bob and Sharon donated the lead gift to establish a fund for collaborative research involving investigators from Barrow Neurological Institute, Arizona State University and T-Gen. Bob and Sharon have a history of supporting projects that enlist cross-discipline collaboration. Numerous charities have benefited from Bob and Sharon’s generosity over the years, including Habitat for Humanity, UMOM New Day Centers, Teach for America, Hospice of the Valley, Mayo Clinic, T-Gen, Barrows Neurological, Childhelp USA, United Way, DeToquerville Society, AWEE, Women in Philanthropy and various food banks.
Bob is survived by his wife, Sharon Dupont McCord, children, Michele Nelson (Roger), Lisa McCord (Phil), Denise Von der Linn (Mark), Andrew McCord (Lilli), Kevin Dupont (Sarah) and grandchildren, Rick, Zachary, Rachel, Emma, Casey, Quinton, Poala, Ellie, Brooke and Andrew, Jr.
There will be a Celebration of his Life at Paradise Valley United Methodist Church, 4455 E. Lincoln Drive at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 27th.
The family is requesting that in lieu of flowers that donations be made in the name of Robert K. McCord to either the Arizona State University Foundation, P.O. Box 2260, Tempe, AZ 85280-2260 or to the Mayo Clinic for the Benefit of the Joint Venture with Hospice of the Valley, Department of Development, 13400 E. Shea Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ 85259.
