James Lee Fetterly

Fetterly, James L. 1936 - 2020 James Lee Fetterly, longtime resident of Minneapolis passed away October 5, 2020 at the age of 84 due to complications following surgery. Born in 1936 to parents Lloyd and Lenora (Oppedahl), Jim grew up in Milwaukee attending Riverside East High School. He attended Lawrence University as an undergraduate and graduated from the University of Wisconsin School of Law in 1962. He met his bride of 61 years, Judith Ann Walsh while in college and earned tuition for law school by selling Fuller Brushes door to door. The couple moved to Minneapolis in 1962 anticipating the birth of their second son as Jim started his life-long career in litigation with the firm Robins, Davis and Lyons. Jim built his 58 year law practice focused on civil litigation with an expertise in fire and mass disaster litigation. He has been named a Super Lawyer and Best Lawyer several times throughout his career as well as lecturing, teaching, and appearing on NBC Dateline with his expertise on fire litigation. After managing his own firm, Fetterly and Gordon, P.A., with friend and partner Gary Gordon, Jim returned to Robins, Kaplan, L.L.P. for his last years of practice, where he continued to advise on mass litigation and worked with the firm's mentoring program for young lawyers in litigation practice. While he excelled in his professional life, his personal life was dominated by his love and pride for his family. He and Judy raised three children, and traveled with them on sailboats through the Caribbean, road trips to Alaska, whitewater rafting in Idaho, ski trips to Colorado and many family camping trips. As his family grew, he and Judy extended the trips to include spouses and grandchildren and would rent houses in Italy and Scotland for month-long stays. His pride and joy were his children, their spouses and his grandchildren. Family dinners and holidays were sacred to Jim and nothing made him happier than to be surrounded by family. Jim was something of a "Renaissance Man", with interests as varied as running a commercial fishing boat in Alaska, collecting fine art and historical maps, traveling extensively around the world and walleye fishing on his beloved Many Point Lake in northern Minnesota. He and Judy have been longtime members of Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina where Jim is an ordained deacon and elder. Generous in his philanthropy, he was an active supporter of the Christian Volunteers of Minnesota, World Vision, and was a board member of Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya as well as a board member for many years at Lawrence University. He was a long time member of the Minneapolis Club and a past member of the Minikahda Country Club. Jim is survived by wife Judy; Sons Peter (Mary Beuchner); Timothy (Kathryn Bradford) and daughter Karen (Steve Hartwig), seven grandchildren: Brett (Madeline), Emily (Blake), Sara, Emma, Madeline, Peter, Isabel and great-grandchild Emilia. In addition to his parents, James was predeceased by his brother David and sister Penny. Due to Covid, the family will have a private celebration of life gathering. Future Memorial service for Jim at a later date. In lieu of flowers, a memorial can be donated to Christ Presbyterian Church Mission Fund or World Vision.

Tributes

James Lee Fetterly

April 21, 1936 - October 5, 2020

Tributes

James Lee Fetterly

April 21, 1936 - October 5, 2020

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