At a time in life when many people are socking away money toward retirement or college education for their kids, Jim Hochgesang gave up his corporate job to try his hand at writing about hiking and biking in Lake County.
“He got to do what he really loved for seven years and had the courage to do it,” said his wife, Sandy. “We had to scale down and change the way we thought about things, but then Jim was very frugal. We used to tease him that he taught Ben Franklin how to pinch pennies.”
The author of five books detailing the ins and outs of trails and paths throughout the Chicago area, Mr. Hochgesang, 59, died of a rare form of Parkinson’s disease Monday, Feb. 16, in a nursing home in Lincolnshire.
Born and raised in Jasper, Ind., he graduated from Jasper High School in 1962. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Purdue University in 1966, he was recruited into Indiana Bell Telephone Co.’s management training program.
He married in 1968 after meeting his wife at a Junior Achievement program in Indianapolis. Mr. Hochgesang’s job had the couple living in towns all over Indiana and then in New Jersey.
By the time he opted to take early retirement in 1993, his family had been living in Lake Forest for 10 years and he held the title of assistant vice president for operations at Ameritech Corp. in Chicago.
“He got burned out on corporate life, and he loved writing and making things simple for people,” said his wife. “He combined his love of writing with hiking and biking.”
Mr. Hochgesang hiked and biked at least three times every trail he wrote about, and after a year of research, self-published “Hiking and Biking in Lake County, Ill.,” in 1994.
In the ensuing years, he wrote four more books, all covering different areas in and around Chicago. Shipping books and handling orders from their home, Mr. Hochgesang and his wife, a co-editor, sold more than 60,000 copies.
Mr. Hochgesang’s books went beyond trail maps with brief descriptions, telling “of the experiences that could be had right from your back door,” said Randy Neufeld, the executive director of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation.
“He was very much into the natural edge of the trail, offering a connection to nature for people in an urban environment,” Neufeld said.
When illness forced him to stop working three years ago, Mr. Hochgesang was working on an update of his first book.
In keeping with her husband’s desire to never again have to wear a suit and tie, he will be buried in jeans, hiking shoes and a T-shirt, his wife said.
Other survivors include a son, Jeffrey; two daughters, Julie Guberman and Jennifer; his mother, Catherine; and a brother, Steve.
A visitation will be held from 10 a.m. Saturday until an 11 a.m. mass in St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 991 S. Waukegan Rd., Lake Forest.
