Family and friends
A virtual 'guestbook' for James F. Kolar. Linger here awhile... Record your thoughts and memories and come back often to remember an unforgettable life well-lived.
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Join MemoriesJim attended middle school in Fox River Grove learning English as his second language and graduated from Crystal Lake Community High School. In 1943, Jim volunteered to serve in the Armed Forces during WWII, and earned a Silver Battle Star serving in the European, African and Middle Eastern Theaters. After the war, he returned home to earn his BFA...
In 1965, he met the love of his life in Jeanne Kraus and they married after a short courtship in Barrington, IL. Jeanne and Jim enjoyed gardening, growing vegetables, flowers (especially roses), fruit trees, camping in the boundary waters of Canada with their children in summers and braved the ups and downs of raising their blended family together...
Memorial contributions in his name can be made to: The American Indian College Fund https://engage.collegefund.org/page/17083/donate/1 Please share your thoughts and memories of Jim with the family at Memories.net ‘...It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the Captain of my ...
His long career as a graphic designer began at Hunter Publishing House in Rockford, IL and finally at the American Medical Association as a graphic designer for their esteemed publication, ‘Prism’, which he dressed with alluring colors and illustrations all by hand and a keen eye; before ‘Macs’ were even a fanciful dream.
Both Jim and Jeanne served on the FRG village planning commission, fiercely defending environmental causes and the preservation of Fox River Grove’s natural environment for future generations. In their later years, Jeanne and Jim often travelled together to visit their children and grandchildren in Iowa and Michigan. To his family, Jim would pas...
James was predeceased by his parents, Frank and Marie, his wife, Jeanne, his step-son, John, his sister, Helen K. Allen and brother-in-law, Lyle W. Allen Because of Covid, a private ceremony will be held in Windridge Memorial Park and Nature Sanctuary in Cary, IL on August 6, 2020 with Military Honors. A memorial to celebrate Jim’s life will be ...
The family would like to especially thank all those that enriched and supported his independent living at home, in his later years. The nurses and staff of Home Based Care at the VA, Senior Services, the Senior Volunteer Network, the staff and caregivers at Home Instead and European Services and the Cary-Grove Food Pantry and Catholic Services fo...
James (Jim) Frank Kolar, 96, of Fox River Grove, IL passed away quietly on Sunday, July 26, 2020 at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, IL after being found unresponsive at his residence. Jim was born on November 20, 1923 in Chicago, IL to James Frank Kolar and Marie (Minovsky) Kolar. His family moved to Fox River Grove where James a...
Jim was an avid fisherman and hunter, and enjoyed these sports throughout his lifetime with his family and friends. He hunted for wild game, fished the rivers, lakes and streams of Northern Illinois year-’round, hunted mushrooms (keeping their whereabouts like a ‘trade secret’), and trapped mink along the Fox River. These activities sustained th...
James was an ‘unofficial’ Fox River Grove historian and having lived in the ‘Grove all his life, he was sought out for contributions to news stories about the history, the people and development of Fox River Grove, from its earliest origins. He had a sharp mind and memory to the end, loved a good laugh, classic movies, and a dry martini, always wi...
James is survived by his daughters, Jeanmarie (Tom) Riccobono, of Traverse City, MI and Jodi (Tom) Landeros of Conroy, IA a step-daughter, Carol Schaefer of Menifee, CA, a daughter-in-law, Susan Kolar, Cary, IL his grandchildren David, Robyn, Noelle, Michael and Gabrielle, James and Marie, Brian, great grandchildren Ashton, Faith, Payton and Brook...
James (Jim) Frank Kolar, 96, of Fox River Grove, IL passed away quietly on Sunday, July 26, 2020 at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, IL after being found unresponsive at his residence. Jim was born on November 20, 1923 in Chicago, IL to James Frank Kolar and Marie (Minovsky) Kolar. His family moved to Fox River Grove where James a...
Dear Dad, I love you tons. You were so funny, smart and witty and kept us laughing. Most of all you were supportive and kind. Rest in peace and see you on the other side. - Jeanmarie
Jeanmarie Riccobono
Carol Kidd How my life was enriched when you came into it, my dear friend. You will be.missed always but now you rest in heaven with Jeanne.
Uncle “Chimmy” showed up Up North at Ballard Lake one snowy late October day with a bucket of large sucker minnows announcing that he wanted to catch a Muskie! We got the motor out of storage, flipped the boat back into the lake and I took him out on the water. He didn’t trust tying the minnow bucket to the boat, so he tied it to his leg! We towed ...