Jim Boushay—who lived in Oak Park, Ill., for 26 years before moving to Harvey, La. ( with the New Orleans metropolitan area ) —died Sept. 21 at age 63, according to a tribute on the SlideShare website.
Boushay, born the fourth of seven children, graduated from DePaul University in 1970 and pursued a master's degree at Northwestern University. He taught English at two academies before serving as official spokesperson and director of development of various organizations, including the Chicago Historical Society.
He also created the Oak Park Festival of Potluck Foods in 1995, repeating the party until he and partner Rickey Sain moved two years ago.
Boushay is survived by his daughters, Therese ( Tracy ) of San Salvadore and Rachel ( Paratore ) of Chicago, and their mother, Catherine ( Cathy ) of Arlington Heights; his siblings, Maryanne DeStefano of Queen Creek, Ariz., Maureen Rossilli of Englewood, Fla., and Jerome ( Jerry ) of San Diego ( and their spouses ) ; and his partner, Rickey Sain, Sr.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Michelle; and two brothers, Joseph and John.
On Nov. 4, a potluck was held in Oak Park as a memorial to Boushay, according to Oak Leaves, a Chicago Sun-Times publication. Various family members attended in addition to local residents. Daughter Rachel said, "He thought that age, race, whether you are gay or straight, or if you have a disability shouldn't make a difference. He loved Oak Park. He felt at home here."
Sain, who was with Boushay almost 18 years, talked with Windy City Times about Boushay. He recounted that they initially met at "a chance meeting at a party. When we began to talk, we discovered—very quickly—we had a lot in common. We both had been married to women, we both have children and we both had similar family and social-justice values. ... We definitely didn't believe in being hypocrites."
When asked what precipitated the move to Louisiana from Oak Park, a candid Sain said, "It was all me, really. The question really is 'Why was it such a sudden move and without any fanfare?' Well, there were a lot of things going on at the time. To be frank, I was just really burned out. With Horizons become the Center [ on Halsted ] was a difficult experience for me, although I'm grateful to be a part of that. It cost me a lot, emotionally, though; I was there through all those messy times with Horizons. ... I had lived in the craziness for so long that I wasn't thinking as clearly as I was."
Sain added, "I think we had done all we can do before we reach that place where people start hating you, as opposed to just being irritated by you because you're constantly challenging others. ... Basically, we had saturated the community, and it was time to move on."
Louisiana lured Sain. "I fell in love with New Orleans after being here for two days," he said. "It was everything I imagined a place I'd want to live to be. It was the best of the best and the worst of the worst all the time. ... It's a nonstop party. ... [ Also, ] it's really easy to talk to people—they will tell you all kinds of stuff, and will talk for hours."
Asked what he would like people to remember about Boushay, Sain wasted little time in answering: "He loved incessantly. My God—if people only knew. He loved people no matter what they thought of him, and he would obsess over how to make it right with somebody. It hurt him so much when something didn't work out with somebody."
Sain also praised Boushay's ex-wife, Cindy, for writing kind words about Sain in her write-up of Boushay's obituary. "She didn't have to do that," he said. "It was very kind of her."
