Robert Berghoff, Sr. had a lifelong commitment to making the Beverly community a better place to live, not only for his family but also for his neighbors, his relatives and friends said.

"He had a lot of roots here," said his son, Peter. "But he recognized that anything worth having requires effort to maintain. Early on, he became involved in many of the associations that make it a great place to live."

Berghoff served on the boards of Beverly Area Planning Association, Beverly Improvement Association, the Beverly Arts Center, Morgan Park High School Community Council, the Swedish Covenant Hospital, Smith Senior Living and the Board of Benevolence of the Evangelical Covenant Church of America.

Berghoff was the president of the Beverly Area Planning Association in the late 1990s.

"He was always able to be a calming influence on very diverging opinions and agendas," said Mike Stanton, former president of BAPA and currently chairman of the development committee. "He could bring people together and make everyone see the common idea among all of us."

Berghoff, 78, died Tuesday of liver disease at Smith Village in Chicago, according to his wife, Carolyn.

"Bob was the ultimate gentlemen," said Kevin McGee, president and CEO of Smith Senior Living, where Berghoff served as a trustee. "He was a gentle soul who was caring and warm. He is someone I will always remember because he touched a lot of lives."

From 1990 to 2014, Berghoff served as a trustee at Smith Senior Living at 112th Place and Western. During those years, he was president from 2007 to 2012 and guided the non-profit organization to move forward when they tore down the Washington Jane Smith Home and replaced it with Smith Village. Under his leadership, the organization took on $61 million in bond financing, McGee said.

A second facility, Smith Crossing, was built in Orland Park.

"We continue to grow off the strength of Bob's legacy. We are serving the community for the seniors and their family members of both the Morgan Park/Beverly area as well as the Orland Park community," McGee said.

Born in Chicago, the oldest of three children, Berghoff's father and grandfather were active members of their communities. His father and several relatives were lawyers, and Berghoff only had that profession in mind as he grew up, said his wife.

After he graduated from South Shore High School in 1955, he went on to graduate from Northwestern University four years later. While he attended the University of Chicago Law School, he also drove a CTA bus.

"He just recently said that he never had as much fun as he did driving that CTA bus for two years. He really enjoyed that. And he continued to have his CTA cap until he died," his son said.

He and his wife married in 1961 and a year later he earned his law degree. He began his career at a law firm on LaSalle Street, but left to start his own firm in the late 1970s, his wife said.

"He wanted to be on his own and represent people. He did a lot of trust and estate work. He was the type of person who just continued to help people even if they couldn't afford it. He had one disabled woman whose money ran out, but he continued to do work for her. He believed in giving back," his wife said.

Berghoff loved being a lawyer, his son said, adding his father had a talent for diffusing situations.

"He was a gentleman and very diplomatic. He was the kind of personality that calms other people down. He wasn't a person to start a fight, but the person to negotiate and put an end to it. I think he appreciated being able to help people when they needed help. He was dealing with individuals, not corporations, and he brought a lot of confidence to others," he said.

Other survivors include sons, Robert and Christopher; brothers, John and Paul; and six grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 3 to 9 p.m. May 20 at Curley Funeral Home, 6116 W. 111th St., Chicago Ridge. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. May 21 at Trinity United Methodist Church, 9848 S. Winchester Ave., Chicago.