People

Thomas Francis O'Gara, 78, of Wilmette, Illinois, passed away January 3, 2018, with his wife and son by his side. A Chicago native and lifelong resident of the area, he was born December 22, 1939, to Viateur Francis and Mary Ellen (Collins) O'Gara. He graduated from St. Ignatius College Prep, Loyola University and Chicago-Kent College of Law, and was a practicing attorney for forty-five years.

John C. (Jack) Feirich, 85 years of age, of Spokane, Washington and formerly of Sandpoint, Idaho; Scottsdale, Arizona; Naples, Florida; and Carbondale, Illinois passed away Jan. 14 after a year-long battle with cancer.  He was born Jan. 2, 1933 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of John K. and Mary M. Feirich. 

He is survived by his wife, C. Kay Feirich, two children, John Charles Feirich of Oceanside, California and Elizabeth Feirich Nebot of Sausalito, California, three grandchildren, four great grandchildren all of Vista, California, sister, Gretchen Lewellyn, Scottsdale, AZ, stepson, Jeffrey Brummer (Alisa) of Fairview, Oregon and two step-grandchildren.

John attended Northwestern University and the University of Illinois College of Law, and thereafter engaged in the private practice of law in Carbondale with his father and grandfather. He continued practicing law in Carbondale until he retired in 1988. He then moved to Naples, Florida, where he pursued his love of sailing in retirement and met and married his wife Kay. After many years, they moved to the Pacific Northwest; first to Idaho and then to Washington, where they became avid golfers. John also spent five years attempting to obtain authority from the State of Washington to rebuild David Thompson's Historic Trading Post. 

During his legal career, he gave freely of his time for the betterment of the legal profession and for the benefit of those members of the public who needed lawyers but could not afford them. He co-founded the Lawyer's Trust Fund of Illinois that has raised millions of dollars to provide legal services for those needy persons.