On the passing of Jim Roche

Jim Roche and I joined the same law firm in 1980. His name went on the door. Mine went on the bottom of the letterhead.

I was the clerk there before I passed the bar. In those days, in addition to filing papers at the courthouse, or the occasional bit of research, that meant running personal errands. I picked up Jim's dry cleaning or fetched sandwiches as the occasion required.

While Jim was a 'name partner', his practice was always separate from the insurance defense practice of the rest of the firm. Still, as time went by, I got the opportunity to handle an occasional assignment for Jim. I welcomed these.

He left the firm several years before I did, moving a couple of blocks down North Dearborn Street to his own building, sandwiched between the brooding, granite Excalibur Nightclub (the former headquarters of the Chicago Historical Society) and the former SRO hotel where, on July 14, 1966, Richard Speck hid out after murdering eight student nurses.

It was a nice building nonetheless, though the stairs were narrow and steep (and steeper every year).

I had occasion to visit Jim's building on a fairly frequent basis after I went out on my own. Jim asked me to get involved in a number of matters, including several appeals, over the years. I will be forever grateful for his confidence in my abilities.

Jim's obituary refers to his "larger than life personality." He could command a room, to be sure, and often did, but I think my grandmother might have referred to him as more of a "mixer." He could say the most outrageous things and people would merely laugh. There was something in the way Jim said things that elicited amusement as opposed to anger. If I ever said anything similar, I'd get slugged. And more than once I may have looked for a quick escape route lest something he said draw a lightning bolt from Heaven. But the lightning bolt never came. I think God laughed along with everyone else.

And Jim seemed to know everybody. I don't mean to say he was everybody's friend; he had his likes and dislikes as anyone would. But even people that Jim may not much have cared for seemed to want Jim to like them, too. I saw that more than once.

I'll remember Jim as a big, shambling bear of a man, as rough around the edges as he needed to be, or not, to 'reach' his audience, whether judge or jury, but always sharp and quick-witted. And as good a lawyer as he was, I think he was a better businessman, who could earn and retain the loyalty of a broad range of impressive clients. He will be missed.

Jim's wake will be tomorrow, from 4:00 to 8:00 at St. John of the Cross Church, 5005 S. Wolf Rd., in Western Springs. The funeral Mass will follow Saturday at 11:00. Internment will be private. The family has asked, in lieu of flowers, for donations to the Brother Rice High School Endowment Fund.