Ralph R. Mickelson, 73, a real estate lawyer whose specialties included air rights, died Friday, Jan. 5, in his winter home in Ft. Myers Beach, Fla., of a heart attack. Mr. Mickelson attended DePaul University and then completed a law degree there in 1954. To help fund his education, support his large family and eventually his wife and children, Mr. Mickelson ran a used car lot. The job started as an informal activity in high school with his older brother, his sister Florence Schwartz Beegun said. Every morning, Mr. Mickelson would get up about 5 a.m. to read the car sales ads. By the time his high school classes started. Mr. Mickelson may have bought at least one vehicle to resell later. The practice continued through his higher education. After law school, Mr. Mickelson represented all aspects of real estate developments and was involved with many well-known projects in Chicago and elsewhere, including the original construction of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas; the 1440 Lake Shore Drive building; the initial acquisition of the Edgewater Beach Hotel and the air rights acquisition above the Illinois Central Railroad for Outer Drive East at 400 E. Randolph St. “The Outer Drive East building was one of the first air rights deals done,” said his son Jerry about the 1962 construction. In the beginning of his law career, Mr. Mickelson became a partner in U.S. Rep. Sidney Yates’ law firm, which was then known as Yates, Holleb and Mickelson. Later Mr. Mickelson became a senior partner with Rudnick & Wolfe from 1976 until his retirement in 1997. The late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington also appointed Mr. Mickelson to the board of directors of the Metropolitan Fair and Exposition Authority for a three-year term. Mr. Mickelson’s family lived in Highland Park for more than 25 years. In 1986 he returned to Chicago, living on the Near North Side. Other survivors include his wife, Shirley; a daughter, Judy; and two other sons, Jon and Julian. Services will be held at noon Tuesday in the Piser Chapel, 9200 N. Skokie Blvd., Skokie.
