Robert James (Jim) DuComb Sr

Jan 12, 1917 - Feb 10, 1984

Robert James (Jim) DuComb Sr., of Cassopolis former South Bend city attorney and long an influential figure in Indiana Republican politics, died at 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. Joseph's Medical Center. He was 67. DuComb was 3rd Congressional District chairman for eight of the 10 years in the 1960s.

During that time, he often played a key role in Republican State Conventions in selection of GOP nominees for state office. He was permanent chairman of the 1966 state convention. Formerly an attorney at law and a partner in the law firm of DuComb, Nimtz, and DuComb, he had been retired from active practice for the last two years.

He was city attorney during the first term of Lloyd M. Allen as mayor of South Bend, 1964 through 1967. In addition to handling the traditional duties of providing legal advice for the Allen administration, DuComb often was a troubleshooter and political adviser. lle won praise for his role in the city's 1967 1 handling of racial disorders without loss of life. DuComb also was state securities commissioner in 1961-62 and was chief deputy St. Joseph County prosecutor during two prosecutor administrations. He was attorney for various governmental boards and commissions and also maintained a private law practice.

While he was a tough bargainer in a political convention, DuComb was respected for keeping his word and looking out for the interests of his area of the state. Once during the 1964 campaign, DuComb was displeased to learn that the staff of Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, then the Republican presidential nominee, was going to break a commitment for a brief South Bend speech by the nominee and planned instead to rush Goldwater directly from the airport to an appearance at Niles. If Goldwater wouldn't speak at the airport, DuComb told the nominee's staff in a blunt telephone conversation, they could find another airport or find no local arrangements for the arrival. Goldwater spoke.

An editorial in The Tribune, noting DuComb's retirement as party district chairman, praised him as a professional politician in the best sense of the term. Despite criticism of the profession, the editorial stated: "Politics in the United States is nevertheless an honorable calling and a vital public service. Americans who use the term politician as an epithet do a disservice to the most workable system of conducting public affairs that men have been able to work out." Political involvement came naturally for DuComb.

His father, Chester L. DuComb, was a South Bend city judge and 1929 Republican nominee for mayor. DuComb's son, Robert J. DuComb Jr., carried on that tradition as a state representative. DuComb was most recently honored in 1982 at the dedication of the new community-based corrections center named for him.

He had played a key role in establishing the program. In addition to his political and governmental activities, he was a member of various lawyer groups and was a roastmaster for the South Bend Press Club Gridiron Show.

He was a native of South Bend and a graduate of Central High School, Indiana University and Indiana University Law School. He served nearly five years in the Army in World War II, attaining the rank of major and receiving the Bronze Star.

Born Jan. 12, 1917, in South Bend, he had lived here all his life. On March 17, 1941, in Abilene, Tex., he married Lucy Cotter, who survives. Also surviving are two sons, Dale B. of Mishawaka, and Robert J. of Chandler, Ariz.; four grandchildren; and a sister, Mrs. Kenneth Sheets of Prescott, Ariz.

Private committal services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Riverview Mausoleum. Friends may call from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Welsheimer Funeral Home, 521 N. William.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Lung Association or to the DuComb Center Project of St. Joseph County, 1015 E. Madison..

Sources: Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com and FindAGrave.com

12/24/2025 EJS

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/273580757/robert-james-ducomb