Thierry “Toto” McCormick did intelligence work in the French underground during World War II and went on to become a Chicago public relations executive and equities broker. Mr. McCormick, 80, died Wednesday, Jan. 22, in his home in Pinehurst, N.C. Mr. McCormick was adopted by Leander McCormick, a great-nephew of mechanical reaper inventor Cyrus McCormick, two years after his father died. He attended a preparatory school in London and moved to Chicago in 1939. During World War II he served with the Office of Strategic Services and was involved in military intelligence work with the French underground. After the war, he worked as a Trans World Airlines ticket agent in New York before moving to California, where he worked briefly as an extra on the set of Cecil B. DeMille films, said his son Tony. Mr. McCormick, unhappy with film work, joined his father wildcatting for oil in Texas in the late 1940s, his son said. He worked as a public relations officer for Oak Brook Polo Co. founder Paul Butler before joining Peter Hand Brewing Co., manufacturer of Meister Brau. As vice president of promotion and public affairs, he coordinated company events that included bringing Tommy Bartlett’s water skiers to the Chicago River for a stunt show, his son said. “He loved a show and it was just because he loved people so much,” his son said. “He was involved in anything that brought him in close contact with people.” In 1974 Mr. McCormick started an equities brokerage company before he worked for Bacon, Whipple & Co. and Moseley Inc., stock brokerage firms. After retiring to North Carolina in 1982, he played a lot of golf and initiated the Toto Cup, in which about 50 fellow retirees traveled the world on golf outings. “He even had a Toto Cup flag you competed for,” his son said. Mr. McCormick is also survived by his wife, Mari; two other sons, Christopher and Matthew; and five grandchildren. A private service will be held Saturday, in North Carolina.
