Donald Rumsfeld | media.defense.gov
Donald Rumsfeld | media.defense.gov
New Trier High grad and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was recently feted at the school’s first Alumni Achievement Awards dinner.
The 88-year-old Rumsfeld, who died earlier this month at his New Mexico home surrounded by family, grew up in Winnetka and attended New Trier High School. Other honorees included Playboy Enterprises CEO and philanthropist Christie Hefner, former Nielsen Company CEO and philanthropist Arthur C. Nielsen Jr., and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Jack Steinberger.
Roughly 90 alumni were nominated and a selection committee of local teachers, administrators and members of the community settled on the 10 honorees.
Rumsfeld, who also served as the Illinois 13th District congressman, is now being remembered as “a public servant who dedicated his life to defending American freedoms and values.”
“Thank you for your service, Mr. Secretary,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said in a post to Twitter where he saluted Rumsfeld alongside a retweet of the family’s statement announcing his passing.
Rumsfeld's career in Washington began in 1957 when he served as Rep. Dave Dennison’s (R-Ohio) assistant. First elected at the age of 30, Rumsfeld served four terms as an Illinois congressman before embarking on a period when he served as secretary of defense for both former President Gerald Ford and former President George W. Bush.
In a tweet to his Twitter account, family members posted “History may remember him for his extraordinary accomplishments over six decades of public service, but for those who knew him best and whose lives were forever changed as a result, we will remember his unwavering love for his wife Joyce, his family and friends and the integrity he brought to a life dedicated to country.”
Rumsfeld is survived by his wife, Joyce, whom he married in 1954, as well as three children and grandchildren.
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