James Sayre Fox

James Sayre Fox, 73, died peacefully at home in Des Plaines, Illinois on April 23, 2018, following a month-long battle with cancer. Jim was born in Evanston, Illinois to Clarence Eldredge Fox, Jr. and Ruth Sayre Fox. He grew up in Glencoe and graduated from New Trier High School, where he founded the student tutoring program. Following his graduation from Yale University in 1966, Jim served as an officer in the U.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Wasp. He then did graduate work in the relatively new field of operations research at North Carolina State University. In 1972 he and his young family moved to Winston-Salem, where he was employed by Wachovia Bank and Trust. He spent the bulk of his career as a vice president of Wachovia, where he headed a group of internal consultants. He returned to the Chicago area in 2000. Jim began studying classical guitar in high school, and continued playing, studying and teaching guitar throughout his life. His love of music extended to singing in choirs and playing and singing traditional Irish songs on all sorts of occasions. Jim's most enduring qualities included his exceptional sense of humor and his intellectual acuity and curiosity. He instilled his own enthusiasm for mathematics in both his daughters, teaching them and setting math puzzles and logic problems from the time they were in pre-school into their high school years. In recent years Jim devoted himself to actively living the lessons set forth in A Course in Miracles. He was a leader, mentor and teacher of these principles in groups on the north shore of Chicago. Jim will be remembered there as a funny, joyful, and steadfast friend, and a gift to all who knew him. Jim is survived by his life partner, Helen Koutoupis of Des Plaines, Emily Fox Martine (Michael) of Chapel Hill, NC and Lucinda Mary Fox (John Mancini) of Evanston, his daughters by his former wife Janet, and his six grandchildren. Also surviving are his brother Clarence Eldredge Fox, III (Virginia) of St. Petersburg, FL, his niece Melinda Fox (Douglas Blount) of Highwood, and nephew John Fox of Chicago. Jim was preceded in death by his sister, Elizabeth Fox McNamara. He leaves behind to mourn him his much-loved dog, Oscar. A Celebration of Life will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, April 30, with visitation beginning at 10 a.m. at Donnellan Family Funeral Services, 10045 Skokie Boulevard, Skokie, IL 60077. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made to the Foundation for a Course in Miracles, https://facim.org/. Info: www.donnellanfuneral.com or (847) 675-1990.