James Bottomley Bleyer

James Bottomley Bleyer passed peacefully from his earthly life at his home on Monday, January 6, 2025.

A fiercely devout Catholic, fittingly, his personal Easter was on Epiphany, the 12 th (last) day of Christmas.

Born October 5, 1928, Jim was named in homage to “Sunny Jim” James Bottomley, first baseman for the

St. Louis Cardinals, who gained the admiration of Albert Bleyer, Jim’s father, after Bottomley spoke to the

crowd at an expedition game with Carterville community baseball players which Albert had arranged. 

Jim graduated from Carterville High School in 1946. He enlisted in the Army, serving twenty-two months

non-combat during the last years of World War II. He attended Southern Illinois University, graduating in

three years. At long last, he attended law school at Notre Dame, the culmination of a dream that began

with an academic catalog ordered from the University when he was just six years old. He was awarded

the Hoynes Prize, given to the graduating law class member who has the best record in scholarship,

application, deportment, and achievement. But Jim considered his proudest achievement while at Notre

Dame to be his deep friendship with Father John Cavanaugh, former President of the University.

He began his legal career in 1954 at the law firm of Franklin and Garrison, leaving in 1966 to pursue the

law as a sole practitioner. In 1976, he was inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers,

an exclusive national organization comprised of lawyers with exceptional courtroom acumen. He formed

Bleyer and Bleyer with his nephew Brad in 1984, and later welcomed son Joe, daughter Mary Margaret,

nephew Rocky, and great-nephew Jonathan to the firm. His granddaughter, Jennifer, worked at the firm

while in law school. He received the Illinois State Bar Association Laureate Award, the highest award

honoring those deemed to exemplify the highest ideals of the profession. Jim was on the Character and

Fitness Committee for the Illinois Supreme Court and enjoyed years of interviewing young attorneys prior

to their admission to the Bar. Jim continued practicing law and trying cases until age 92, and was an

active member of the Illinois Bar until his death. During his seventy-year career, he earned the highest

recognition possible in the legal field for his professionalism and ethics and had a lasting impact on the

law, having argued several seminal cases before the Illinois Supreme Court. He was one of those rare

individuals blessed to have pursued a profession for which he was superbly suited.

Jim was a proud member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and served as a Trustee. He was a charter

member of the Knights of Columbus in Marion. In 2007, he was awarded the Marion Area Chamber of

Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award, an accolade he was immensely gratified and honored to

receive.

His most ardent love, aside from his family, was the University of Notre Dame – especially its sports. It is

comforting to know that he can once again see and hear his adored Irish on the playing field, and he is no

doubt vying to sit at the right hand of God to orchestrate plays for the upcoming bowl game(s).

Jim is now reunited in death with his beloved wife of 57 years, Eileen, and their daughter, Teresa; his

parents, Albert and Margaret (Tregoning) Bleyer; and his brothers, sisters-in-law and nephews, Bill and

Dorothy (Rushing) Bleyer and son Eric, Frank and Lita (LeVan) and son Tony, and Tom, Tom’s son David

and wife O’Mira.

He is survived by his children, Mary Margaret (Bleyer) Foradora and husband, the Honorable John H.

Foradora, Brockway, PA; John Cavanaugh Bleyer and wife, Susan, Elmhurst, IL; Joseph Albert Bleyer

and wife, Stacey, Marion, IL; Anna Marie (Bleyer) Vogel and husband, Eric S. Vogel, Prairie Village, KS;

and James Robert Bleyer and wife, Heidi, Maumee, OH.

He is also survived by eleven grandchildren, Jennifer Marie (Vogel) Schroeder and husband, Dan; Eric S.

Vogel Jr., and wife, Kaitlin; Margaret Erin Vogel, Kathleen Teresa Vogel, Joseph James Bleyer, Michael D.

Bleyer, Margaret Teresa Bleyer, Mason James Bleyer, Elena Kate Bleyer, James Henry Foradora, and

Abigail Margaret Bleyer; and five great-grandchildren, Stella Elizabeth, Michael Stephen, and Luke James

Vogel; and Frank Albert and Thomas James Schroeder; and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family wishes to acknowledge with gratitude the dedication of long-time caregiver Kenna Garrison.

Jim believed there were few people who had a happier life than he, and he often said “when I die, the

undertaker need only fold my hands as it will be unnecessary to paint a smile on my face – it will already

be there.”

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to St. Joseph Catholic Church Building Fund; the Albert W. and

Margaret Bleyer Scholarship Fund at John A. Logan College; or to a charity of the donor’s choice. Mass

intentions may be made through St. Joseph Catholic Church, the Holy Cross Association, Notre Dame,

IN, or to a Catholic church of the donor’s choice.

Binkley-Ross Funeral Home is overseeing the arrangements. Time with family and friends to visit and

share memories will be from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, January 10, and from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. Saturday,

January 11, in St. Joseph Catholic Church in Marion. The Holy Rosary will be recited at 5 p.m. on Friday

in the church. A Mass of Christian burial will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, with Father Brian Barker officiating.

Interment will be in Hillcrest Cemetery in Carterville.

Reflecting on his life and work as he approached the end of this life, Jim wrote in a journal to his children:

“I am now to the end of the line and at best I have little time left. I am happy that I stayed the course with

the Catholic faith. I want to be remembered as someone who had the kind of pride that motivates you to

do your best regardless of whether it is necessary or expected, and to be remembered as a good family

man – husband, son, father, father-in-law, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, brother-in-law, and

uncle – and an industrious and dedicated lawyer.” Dad, we know you “fought the good fight to the end,”

ran “the race to the finish,” and “kept the faith.” We are immensely proud of you. And as you stand at the

gates of heaven, God will welcome you home and say to you, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”