John L. Fallbacher, 68, an unfailingly generous man who loved renovating old houses, died Monday, June 5, in his Galena home of lung cancer. Born in Chicago, Mr. Fallbacher graduated from Lane Tech High School and served as a military policeman in the Army during the Korean War. He was an insurance agent with State Farm Insurance in Skokie for 30 years, retiring 18 months ago. He would commute between his home in Arlington Heights and his second home in Galena, a three-story Victorian that he and his wife, Sharon, renovated into a bed and breakfast called the Park Avenue Guest House. Mr. Fallbacher loved working around the house, and he and his wife renovated several other houses together. “He was a natural,” his wife said. “If I said, `Why don’t we move this wall and put it over there,’ he could just do that.” Come Christmastime, Mr. Fallbacher would create a display consisting of 14 Christmas trees and thousands of lights. Mr. Fallbacher was generous to a fault, his wife said, and would go out of his way to help others. “He never met a person he didn’t like, never met a person he wouldn’t help,” she said. “I never knew who I was going to cook dinner for. [He was] one of those unique people that was loved by everyone.” In his spare time, Mr. Fallbacher pitched horseshoes for the Elks Lodge in Galena, the Moose Lodge in Mt. Prospect, the VFW Post in Wheeling and the Palatine Park District. Other survivors include a son, Kirk; a daughter, Korrin; and three grandsons. Services were held Thursday.
