Retired Judge John Schwartz changed the image of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, where he was chief judge from 1987 to 1998.

Judge Schwartz, 86, died of natural causes Monday, Nov. 28, while in rehabilitation in Imperial Grove Pavilion in Chicago, said his daughter Nora York. He was a longtime resident of Chicago, where he grew up.

He attended University of Chicago schools from nursery school to law school. He interrupted his studies in 1943 to serve in the Army Air Forces.

He resumed his studies in 1945 and graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1950, then worked as an assistant U.S. attorney before going into private practice in 1954.

Judge Schwartz was appointed to the Bankruptcy Court in 1984. He found it wasn't a very happy place and set about looking for ways to improve things, Black said.

Read the full obituary in the Chicago Tribune