James Fay Overley, 82, previously of Mendota and recently residing in Rockford, died on May 26, 2020.

Services will be at Snyder's Grove Park, 4058 E. 4th Rd, Mendota, at 2 p.m.Saturday June 20 with Rev. Susan Presley officiating. Guests are asked to dress for outdoor weather, bring a lawn chair and mask and observe proper social distancing protocols . A second service, which will be a virtual broadcast from the Unitarian Universalist Church via Facebook live, will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday June 21st with Dr. Rev. Matthew Johnson officiating. Please visit www.uurockford.org for the Facebook link. Merritt Funeral Home, Mendota is assisting the family.

Jim was born on March 10, 1938 in Rock Falls to Fay Seely Overley and Pearl Margaret Whaley. He was preceded in death by his parents and survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Diane and Jim Loos; sister, Janene Overley; wife, Rhea Overley; daughter, Liana Allison; son-in-law, Tom Allison; and grandchildren, Larissa "Lara" Allison and Thomas James "TJ" Allison.

Jim attended Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, IA and graduated with a major in Psychology. After working as a student psychologist at East Moline State Mental Hospital and serving in the Army as a staff psychologist, Jim hitchhiked through Europe for three months and then returned to the states to earn a Master's in Genetics degree from Northern Illinois University where he met Rhea Wheeler in 1966. Their daughter, Liana, was born in 1967 after they married and settled in Mendota.

Jim was a life-long teacher. He was very instrumental in facilitating a love for biology and shaping healthcare and teaching careers for generations of students. Jim's professional teaching career in Mendota lasted 30-plus years. Jim gave teaching his all, and former students still like to recall his dramatic teaching techniques as they related to scientific concepts like the "mighty mitochondria" and Brownian motion. And who could ever forget photosynthesis—a process he taught through a song he wrote called the "Stomata Hop." Frequently requested by past students, the song became a minor internet sensation after his granddaughter recorded and posted it to YouTube in recent years. In addition, and to this day, he is known for his potentially career-limiting insistence on a science-based sex education curriculum in his biology classes—a legacy that earned him the honorable title of "Coach Overley" among his intrigued and appreciative adolescent students.

In addition to teaching, Jim had many other interests, all of which he embarked upon with gusto. A pair of cockatiels grew into a basement aviary that complemented his tropical fish collection. A frugal, self-sustaining lifestyle led to heating their home with wood that Jim felled and split (with his octogenarian neighbor, Watson Bartlett). Jim made homemade yogurt and fresh-baked bread (he not only baked it, but also cracked and milled his own wheat) regularly. Summers were spent growing and processing abundant garden and orchard produce.

Upon retirement Jim became a prolific woodworker—cabinetry, toy chests, dressers and desks for the grandchildren and a workstation, tables, and radiator covers for Tom and Liana's home were the result of this self-taught pursuit. In like manner, without any formal education in investing, Jim jumped right into the market in the '80s when it was easy to be successful. It got less fun after three serious downturns over the years, but he made enough profit to be generous in contributing to dozens of causes that were close to his heart.

Jim's passion for peace led him to many of activist Kathy Kelly's "Voices for Creative Non-violence" lectures. He also attended the School of the Americas one summer to protest the United States' teaching of torture techniques to Central and South Americans. He contributed proceeds from his annual garden produce sales at church to various peace-related and other social justice causes—today Jim's Midwest-grown zucchinis help power solar lights in African operating rooms.

With all of his interests and pursuits, probably the biggest thrill of Jim's life has been getting to know his grandchildren, Lara and TJ. What pleasure they gave him! He was a consummate pretender with them in the attic cubbyhole playroom. It was the first place the kids headed when they arrived for a visit to ''dota."

In a Thanksgiving dinner prayer, Jim wisely said, "We are grateful for our children in our lives and how they teach us about ourselves . . . and who they are as individuals. They will inherit the earth. It is up to us to teach them to see value in others, to learn justice, to share and be fair to everyone and how to find truth. They must not take others' toys, for that leads to occupation and to not hit, for that leads to war . . . and that leads to more war."

In lieu of cut flowers, Jim, a scientist and ardent pacifist, would humbly request that we all work hard, employ evidence-based reasoning, be fair, speak the truth, strive for justice and plant a vegetable.

Memorials to fund research to end Alzheimer's Disease can be made to the Alzheimer's Association on Jim's tribute page at www.alz.org .

Jim's family invites you to visit his memorial website at www.jamesfayoverley.com and leave a memory.