CHICAGO, IL - Draper and Kramer, Incorporated, a national full-service real estate firm, has announced the passing of longtime company executive and board member Frederick C. Ford, age 98, on Monday, July 14, 2025. Ford, widely considered a prominent local leader in business and real estate, spent most of his career at Draper and Kramer, eventually serving as the firm’s chief financial officer as well as sitting on its board of directors for more than 40 years.
“Frederick Ford was a true leader not just at Draper and Kramer, but in the broader business and civic communities,” said Todd Bancroft, president and CEO of Chicago-based Draper and Kramer. “His more than six decades with our firm spanned a significant period in Draper and Kramer’s 132-year history in Chicago. Frederick truly embodied the company’s commitment to this city and had a lasting influence on our legacy of notable projects that have helped shape neighborhoods. We will continue to draw inspiration from the passion, dedication and leadership he exemplified across all facets of his long and impactful life.”
Ford joined Draper and Kramer in 1951 as a staff accountant. Over the course of his 63-year career with the company, he rose through the ranks, eventually being named executive vice president and chief financial officer before retiring in 2014. Ford’s stewardship of the company also included serving on its board of directors from 1972 to 2013.
During his tenure with Draper and Kramer, Ford played a central role in many of the firm’s most notable projects in the 1950s and 1960s, including the transformative Lake Meadows and Prairie Shores multifamily developments in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood.
“Those who knew him and worked with him remember his calm authority, his integrity and the pride he took in being a mentor for others, including descendants of Draper and Kramer’s founders, for whom his longevity offered a sense of stability and source of institutional knowledge within a multigenerational family business,” said Bancroft. “Beyond Draper and Kramer, he was deeply committed to civic engagement and educational advancement, as illustrated by the long list of organizations and causes he devoted his time to.”
Ford volunteered for many years with the Union League Club, becoming the organization’s first Black president, and was active with the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, serving as that group’s vice president. He was also a member of the Gary (Indiana) Board of School Trustees for eight years, including two years as president, and founded the Gary Educational Development Foundation, dedicated to improving elementary and secondary schools.
“In both his professional and personal life, he showed a passion for uplifting those around him that will certainly be his most enduring legacy — and one that we will continue to remember and honor at the company he was part of for so long,” said Bancroft.
About Draper and Kramer, Incorporated: Founded in 1893, Draper and Kramer, Incorporated is a trusted financial and property services provider with a deep commitment to people, excellence, service and integrity spanning more than 130 years. Family-owned and one of the leading privately held real estate services firms in the U.S., Draper and Kramer is headquartered in Chicago with a national reach and broad offering of services. The company’s decades-long heritage has evolved over the years and today spans expertise in residential and commercial development, acquisition, property management and leasing; and debt and equity financing for commercial properties. Draper and Kramer provides a single source of real estate-related counsel to a diverse group of real estate investors across the U.S., including corporations; private and institutional owners and users of real estate; government agencies; and foundations. For more information, visit www.draperandkramer.com