Robert C. LaBrot, 66, a former personnel director for a Chicago accounting firm who sang with the Elgin Choral Union, died, apparently of a heart attack, Tuesday, Jan. 21, in Joseph Hospital in Elgin. Mr. LaBrot was born in Wausau, Wis., and grew up in Stevens Point. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point in 1960, Mr. LaBrot joined Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. in Milwaukee as one of its first computer programmers, working on large early machines kept in a hermetically sealed room. A few years later, he moved to the company’s personnel department as a college recruiter. In 1974, he left the company and moved with his wife, Margaret, to Arlington Heights, where they lived until moving to Elgin more than a year ago. Mr. LaBrot took a job with Altschuler, Melvoin and Glasser, a Chicago-based accounting firm, where he was personnel director for about 10 years. In 1986 Mr. LaBrot and his wife bought Insty-Prints printing shop in Roselle. They sold the business in 1994 but continued to run a typesetting and design business, Classic Graphics, from their home until the late ’90s. Mr. LaBrot sang with the Elgin Choral Union for more than 20 years. He loved classical music and knew it so well that he could sometimes identify the conductor of a piece. “He had a wonderful ear for music,” his wife said. An avid sailor, he kept a boat for many years on Lake Geneva. Other survivors include a son, Michael; two daughters, Heidi McDowell and Suzanne; a sister, Karen Borsos; and two grandchildren. Mass will be said at 1 p.m. Saturday in St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 397 Fulton St., Elgin.
