Obituaries

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.

Norbert L. Gold, age 93, of Winnetka died peacefully at Evanston Hospital surrounded by his loving family. A diabetic for 77 years, he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 16. His doctors did not think he would live past the age of 30, but he mastered his health by watching his diet and taking his insulin as directed. His health was a challenge in his later years, but he was grateful to the Winnetka Paramedics for always saving his life. In 2004, Eli Lilly honored him with a special recognition for being a diabetic for over 70 years on insulin therapy. 

He graduated from Northwestern University, majoring in English & History, and then received his law degree from John Marshall Law School. He had a long and successful career as an attorney and a real estate appraiser. He worked as an attorney for the Illinois Highway Dept., purchasing farmland for the construction of Highway I-55. He then joined Litton Industries as an attorney and director where he purchased and sold over 100 properties in the Midwest area. While practicing law, he established his own real estate appraisal and brokerage firm where he appraised over 20,000 properties in Chicago, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, L.A., and for many banks in the Chicagoland area. He served as an expert witness on property values in Lake and Cook County Courts and Federal Bankruptcy Courts.