Correction: Earlier copy noted that James J. Vance died on Sept. 27. He died on Sept. 17. The copy has been corrected. Fort Atkinson Online regrets the error.
By Chris Spangler
A Fort Atkinson attorney known for his expertise in probate and real estate law, as well as in the kitchen and boardroom, has died.
James J. Vance passed away Friday, Sept. 17, at his home. He was 88 years old.
Per his request, there will be no funeral or public visitation. The family plans for a celebration of life at a future date.
Born in Madison on March 17, 1933, to Sheldon and Harriet Vance, Vance graduated from Fort Atkinson High School in 1951 and continued his education at Beloit College, receiving a bachelor of arts degree in math and physics with honors in 1955.
He earned his jurisprudence degree in 1958 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Phi Fraternity. That same year, he was admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin and Federal Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.
He joined his father’s Fort Atkinson law firm, Rogers and Vance, practicing for 63 years with various partners and associates in the same building on Main Street, known today as the Vance law office.
His areas of practice included real estate law, probate law, estate planning, business, corporations, LLCs and LLPs and tax law. Vance was well regarded statewide for his knowledge of real estate law and was the author of “Titles to Real Estate,” the “bible” for Wisconsin real estate lawyers that was published by the University of Wisconsin Law School Continuing Education Division in 1977 with numerous supplements. It continues in use today.
He also presented frequent lectures and manuscripts furthering the practice of real estate law and issues relating to probate, gift tax and inheritance tax law.
Vance volunteered his expertise as pro-bono legal counsel to a variety of organizations, making a major difference in their growth and success.
Among them was as a member of the board of directors of the Fort Atkinson Industrial Realty Corp., later the Fort Atkinson Industrial Development Corporation. Working with community leaders in a public-private partnership, the corporation was instrumental in attracting and retaining business.
Numerous agreements and transfers of property were exercised and carried through to a successful conclusion under the watchful eye of Vance.
“Jim Vance has made lasting contributions to Fort Atkinson through his involvement in industrial development,” longtime development head Gordon F. Day, now deceased, was quoted as saying when the Fort Atkinson Lions Club presented Vance with its coveted Distinguished Service Award in 2010.
Vance’s father, Sheldon Vance, had received the same Lions award in 1975.
“It was so helpful to have someone on the board with Jim’s grasp of legal issues,” Day had said. “We should all be grateful for his many years of service.”
Vance also was deeply involved in the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation, which began in 1973 with a $25,000 anonymous gift and today boasts assets of $35.3 million, providing financial support to projects large and small throughout the city.
In 2015, just before the passing of his wife, Lee, the Jim and Lee Vance Scholarship Fund for education was established.
Vance was a charter member of the foundation’s board of directors and served as secretary for more than 40 years. Upon his death, he was serving on the board as legal counsel.
His advice and counsel were considered invaluable, and his duties also included taking and recording minutes of each and every quarterly meeting for more than four decades.
In 2019, the foundation presented Vance with it “Making Fort Special” award.
Fort Atkinson Community Foundation Chairman Mike Bender said Vance was instrumental in just about every aspect of the foundation.
“He provided the legal services to get the foundation established, starting in 1973,” Bender said. “Since that time, he continued to serve, without interruption, as our legal counsel, attending all our board meetings for 47 years. In addition, he also served as secretary to the foundation from its inception through 2016.”
However, Bender said, even more important was the work Vance did to ensure the ongoing success of the foundation.
“He made sure his clients were aware of the tax and philanthropic benefits of directing their charitable efforts locally when crafting their estate plans,” Bender said. “He was a great promoter of our mission and took great care to make sure we’d be in a financial position to actually make good on our vision of ‘A Better Fort Atkinson.’
“He was particularly adamant about the importance of building up our General Fund — the fund by which we operate and which the directors can use to make grants in response to the changing needs of our community,” he added. “The foundation simply wouldn’t be what it is today without Jim Vance.”
Bender said that Vance was continuing his service to the foundation right up until his death.
“It’s been a little odd not seeing him included in our group emails over these past two weeks or so,” he said. “All of us at the foundation, really the whole Fort Atkinson community, are in his debt.”
That echoed a sentiment shared a decade before.
“Jim Vance’s contribution to the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation cannot be overstated,” Helen Rose, former program administrator of the foundation, was quoted as saying at the 2010 Lions Club award presentation.
“He has been involved since the beginning of the community foundation in 1973, a time when the concept of ‘community foundations’ was quite new. In addition to being a contributor and promoter, the reason the foundation is able to make substantial grants to the community now (library, museum, bike trail, etc.), is the result of the forward-thinking and creativeness of Jim and a few others in the early 1970s,” she added.
Vance’s leadership with the foundation also was mentioned in January 2002 when the Fort Atkinson Area Chamber of Commerce presented Vance with its prestigious 2001 Economic Contribution Award.
Commenting during the chamber award presentation, John McKenzie, then foundation past-president and now deceased, said, “While many community leaders were involved in both the formation and success of the foundation, only one person is regarded as the real catalyst over time that caused so much good to happen in our community. His sound advice and the continuity he provides have played major roles in assisting the foundation to grow …”
He noted that Vance took every opportunity to encourage clients to remember Fort Atkinson in their wills.
McKenzie added, “If the movie ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ were ever cast in Fort Atkinson, Jim would be our George Bailey. Over $2 million has been given back to the community in the form of grants to help make possible or improve such things as the aquatic center, Hoard-Curtis Scout Camp, First Call for Help, the senior citizens center, youth baseball, girls’ softball, the Rock River Park Rotary Pavilion, library media center, the addition to Opportunities Inc., the chamber of commerce building and downtown revitalization.”
He said it would be difficult to name a community project or activity in which Vance had not been involved.
Then-chamber President Steve Dehnert agreed.
“It would equally be as hard to imagine how most of these things could have happened if Jim had not been on the scene from the beginning,” he said during the chamber award presentation.
Meanwhile, the Fort Atkinson Area Chamber of Commerce itself benefited from Vance’s knowledge and support. He served as its president in 1967 and continued for decades as a chamber ambassador.
In October of 2001, he received the Friend of the Chamber Award, and then a few months later, the chamber’s coveted Economic Contribution Award.
“The Fort Atkinson Area Chamber of Commerce thinks of Jim Vance as part of the fabric of our organization,” Carrie Chisholm, current chamber executive director, said.
“As our longest-serving ambassador, Jim recruited and welcomed countless new members,” she noted. “He served as our legal counsel, thoughtfully directing our policies and procedures; he was a member of our Industrial Development Committee, for which he was awarded our Economic Contribution Award in 2001; our top honor.
Chisholm continued: “He was a founding member of our golf outing, and sponsored the beverage cart every year, to ensure people had a good time. Jim cared about the details, too. He would come to the chamber on weekends and trim our trees and shrubs, because he wanted the entry way to our downtown to be presentable. And, he was always, always of good cheer.
“His contributions to our community are not easily quantified, but will be felt for years to come,” she added.
In addition, Vance served on the board of directors and as secretary of the Rock River Heritage Corporation, which owns and operates the Fort Atkinson Club.
According to his obituary, “This was one of his favorite pet projects. So much that even in a wheelchair, he would go and spray weeds in the lawn to keep active. He worked hard and diligently for the town that he loved.”
Jill Kessenich, director of the Fort Atkinson Club, agreed wholeheartedly.
“Jim Vance has been an active participant in the creation of the Fort Atkinson Club community center since the beginning” she said. “Jim was the legal counsel on creating the 501(c)(3), nonprofit status, filed the necessary paperwork and helped us create our bylaws and other procedures.
“He was also a generous donor, granting the FAC renewing funds every year in order to maintain the landscaping and grounds around our building,” she continued.
“Lastly, he was an active participant in events held at the FAC, such as the lovely Celebration of Life party he held for his late wife, Lee,” Kessenich said. “He even hired a brass band to play in her honor! Jim always loved a party.”
Board member Cole Jones called Vance a
major Fort Atkinson Club Community Center benefactor.
“He shared much more than legal expertise,” Jones said. “He served on the club’s board since it was founded. He supported events and hosted many, including an annual dinner for employees and board members. He wanted the club to look as good outside as it did inside and underwrote many landscaping expenses.
“He led by example, not asking what the club could do for him, but what he could do for the club, Jones added.
Vance also served for many years as a member of the Fort Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees, and was involved from the beginning in the formation of the hospital foundation as a charter board member.
In addition, he was a former director and fund drive chairman of the Fort Atkinson United Way, now United Way of Jefferson and North Walworth Counties; a former owner and secretary-treasurer of the Jefferson County Abstract Co. in Jefferson; and secretary-treasurer and a director of the Wisconsin Title Association.
He was a former member of the Jaycees. The Fort Atkinson Junior Chamber of Commerce named Vance its Distinguished Service Award recipient in January 1967.
An avid golfer, Vance was a former director and secretary of the Koshkonong Mounds Country Club. He also served as a chairman and committee member of the Fort Atkinson City Golf Tournament in the 1960s.
During the 1980s, the country club expanded to an 18-hole golf course, and Vance provided gratis legal assistance in the purchase of land and was instrumental in the success of the overall project.
For many years, his obituary noted, Vance would bring a chainsaw to clean-up day and worked cutting and trimming trees to help manicure the golf course.
He also was involved in leadership roles of the UW Law Alumni Association, Fort Atkinson UW Alumni Association, the Jefferson County Bar Association and a variety of professional organizations.
In addition, Vance was interested in history and was a gourmet chef.
“In the winter, you may find Jim leading a group in a rousing rendition of ‘I Ain’t Gonna Ski No more’ or perhaps ‘The Urho Polka.’ And once he’s got you singing, kick back and get comfortable, because you aren’t going anywhere for a while,” Steve Dehnert said during the 2002 chamber award presentation. “In the kitchen, you can ask him to whip up a batch of bouillabaisse or something else on the exotic side.”
Vance’s other hobbies included snow skiing, waterskiing, cooking and pheasant hunting. His obituary stated that the last time he went waterskiing was at age 70 on a pair of handmade waterskis he custom built from ash in the 1950s.
Jim Vance is survived by his three children, Katie Whitten, Peter Vance (Suzanne), Jamee Vance (Nathan); grandchildren, Andrya, Ethan, Scott, and one great granddaughter, Vanessa. He also leaves behind his close companion and friend, Lee Griedl.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Ellen (Lee) Vance.
Persons wishing to make a memorial in his name may do so to the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation Rock River Heritage Fund, 244 North Main St., Fort Atkinson, WI, 53538, or the Humane Society of Jefferson County, W6127 Kiesling Road, Jefferson, WI, 53549.
Dunlap Memorial Home in Fort Atkinson is assisting the family.
James J. Vance
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