Obituaries

James (Jim) Russell Fisher, age 81, died peacefully on November 7, 2023 in the presence of family at Silverado Memory Care in St. Charles, Illinois.

Jim grew up in Bloomington, Illinois. He attended Illinois State University where he earned a teaching certification. He moved to DeKalb, Illinois, where his two sons, Geoff and Greg, were born. After teaching junior high and high school English for 13 years, he left teaching to pursue a  career in journalism. He received a masters degree in English from Northern Illinois University and worked as a reporter and assistant editor for the DeKalb Daily Chronicle. In 1986, he moved to Chicago and worked for the Chicago office of United Press International.

While working for the Daily Chronicle, Jim met the love of his life, Gail Brown. They married in 2001, and loved to travel and visit their family together. They both had a great love of architecture and Jim served as a docent for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation in Chicago for many years.

When UPI closed their Chicago office, Jim decided to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a lawyer. At the age of 52, he was admitted to Kent Law School with his son Greg, and graduated in 1998 at the top of his class.

After graduation, Jim worked as a judicial clerk for justices in the US District Court, Illinois Appellate Court and the Illinois Supreme Court before retiring in 2015 at the age of 73.

Jim continued his lifelong love of learning after retirement by attending classes at the Osher Life Long Learning Institute at Northwestern University until 2020.

Jim loved and was loved by his family and is survived by his wife, Gail Brown; sister Joanne Poppino and her husband Don; sons Geoff & Greg; daughters-in-law Donna Nakamura & Melissa Jones; step daughter Felicia Lindus; stepson Eric Brown; 8 grandchildren – Elise Fisher, Noelle Fisher, Alex Fisher, Andy Fisher, Jenna McNany, Kelsie Lindus, Emily Knoblauch and Matthew Dominici-Brown; and 5 great-grandchildren – Camden McNany, Cooper McNany, Ava McNany, Brooks Knoblauch and Hudson Knoblauch.

The family is planning to hold a memorial service in 2024. It was Jim’s wish that in lieu of flowers, remembrances be made in the form of donations to the Alzheimer’s Association.

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