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James Kilday Obituary
Born: December 23, 1942 in Polo, IL
Died: August 28, 2025 in Bozeman, MT
James Michael "Jim" Kilday passed away on August 28, 2025, at age 82, in Bozeman, Montana, of cancer. The son of John E. and Virginia A. (Garber) Kilday, Jim grew up on a farm outside of Polo. He attended Unity School from first to eighth grade, and he remembered his teacher Mrs. Frances (Butts) Maxey with fondness. The family moved into Polo in 1955 and he attended Polo Community High School, graduating in 1960. As a teen, Jim worked for several years in the kitchen at the lodge at White Pines Forest State Park, where he was mentored by John Maxson. He studied accounting on his own and was proud of having passed the CPA exam despite not having a college degree. In 1973, after several years working as an accountant in Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin, he moved to Arizona and began working in real estate development. Jim attended Stanford University's Sloan Executive MBA program in 1975-1976, following which he started his own real estate development company, Markland Properties. With Markland he developed many interesting properties in Phoenix and Scottsdale, including Scottsdale Ranch and Gainey Ranch. In 1995, Jim moved to Bozeman, Montana, where he later founded another real estate development company, Kilday & Stratton, Inc. He was married twice, first to Judith Bott, of Polo, in 1963, and then to Elaine Frey, also of Polo, in 1994. Jim was a lifelong reader and student of history, especially the history of the U.S. Civil War, and he enjoyed collecting guns and classic cars. Most of all, he loved telling stories about his childhood and young adulthood. He was preceded in death by his parents and older brother, Larry. He is survived by his two former wives; two sisters, Margaret Broderick of North Andover, Massachusetts, and Ellen Finfrock, of Mt. Morris; his daughter Kathy, of Eugene, Oregon; son Kevin and daughter-in-law Tracy, of Bozeman, Montana; four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
A funeral mass was held Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025 with burial at St. Mary Cemetery in Polo, IL.
Visit www.polofamilyfuneralhome.com to send condolences.
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