Robert M. Sawyer, a prominent real estate developer and educator, passed away on April 4 at his home on Martha’s Vineyard at the age of 87.
Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1937, he graduated from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and relocated to Chicago. His company Sawyer Realty Group developed numerous condominium projects in the 1970s and 1980s. One of the developments became embroiled in a legal squabble that resulted in his favor with the Sawyer v. Jarvis case heard in 1982 before the Supreme Court of Illinois that upheld the state’s Real Estate Brokers and Salesmen License Act.
Moving back to Massachusetts in the 1980s, he became owner and steward of the iconic Citgo sign in Boston’s Kenmore Square. He also created Dukes Academy, which offered real estate education, and authored the 2008 book “Massachusetts Real Estate: Principles, Practices, and Law.”
Outside of real estate, Sawyer was involved in multiple entrepreneurial endeavors including The New England Spice Company and The Barn Bowl & Bistro. He also served as a county commissioner of The County of Dukes County and advocated for affordable housing developments on Martha’s Vineyard.
