James A. "Jim" Bauer

James A. "Jim" Bauer, age 83, of Lake Forest, Illinois passed away peacefully on August, 29, 2025. Jim was born in Des Plaines, Illinois to James and Harriett Bauer. He had one brother, the late Richard J. (surviving spouse Sandra) Bauer. Jim graduated from Main West High School and the University of Illinois where he was President of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity and a member of the Skull & Crescent Society. While at the University, he met Alpha Gamma Delta sorority member, Jill D. Dorney, and they were married in 1965. After graduating from the U of I, he joined Illinois Bell Telephone and had a long career as a senior information industry executive with over 45 years of experience in operations, marketing, strategy formulation, international business development and venture capital. As an officer in the Bell System, he held a wide range of positions in operations, engineering and marketing with AT&T, Ameritech, Illinois Bell and Wisconsin Bell. As President of Ameritech Development Corporation, the venture capital subsidiary of Ameritech, he created the investment strategies both domestically and internationally including the creation of the Ameritech International subsidiary. In 1998, he presented a speech to the State Duma of the Russian Federation in Moscow on "Information Access for the 21st Century" and made numerous presentations in Japan and China. After retiring from Ameritech in 1993, he joined the ANTEC Corporation (now ARRIS Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRS), where he held various officer positions and was responsible for the marketing of ANTEC's hybrid fiber-coax products to the Regional Bell Operating Companies. After the public offering of ANTEC in 1993, he assumed responsibility for most company administrative staff functions and helped to transition ANTEC into a leading manufacturer of broadband communication products for cable telephony, high speed data and IP video applications. At the time of his retirement in 2012, he was Vice President – Investor Relations for ARRIS and was the primary company interface to Wall Street and the financial trade press. During his business career he was on the boards of several organizations including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Zoological Society and the Red Cross of SE Wisconsin. Most recently, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the North Shore United way. Jim enjoyed collecting antiquarian books and during his business travels often found time to climb mountain peaks in Colorado, Wyoming, France and Spain. Jim was a devoted husband of 60 years to his wife, Jill, and a loving father to Kristin (Jon) Grief and Bridget (Christoper) Tucek and proud "Papa" to his five grandchildren, Carl and Maren Grief and Meredith, Lauren and Clare Tucek. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, contributions to honor Jim may be made to The Michael J. Fox Parkinson's Foundation at https://www.michaeljfox.org/.