Lawyer for the underdog
Jordan B. Rifis, Esq., 79, died on Feb. 20, 2025. Born in Chicago on March 26, 1945 to Albert and Edith Rifis, he was educated at Austin High School, and attended Roosevelt University for his undergraduate studies, focusing on literature, writing, and law, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1968. He then went on to attend DePaul University for Law School, earning his Juris Doctorate in 1971.
His legal career began in insurance for 10 years; then he found his true passion, fighting for the underdog. He did this largely in family law, workers’ compensation and personal injury matters. He never retired, working until the very end, totaling over 50 years. He frequently took clients who had been rejected by other attorneys, and found great pride in leveraging the power of the law and legal system on their behalf. As he once wrote, laws are the rules established and accepted by society for the benefit of the people. He will be remembered as an advocate for the underprivileged and every person who found themselves battling against insurance companies, fighting for custody of their children, or needing to ensure the financial security of their families or businesses.
He will be dearly missed by many friends, including the Tuesday Golf Club, monthly poker night, and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Oak Park. These groups were full of friends who brought him great joy.
He agreed with his favorite actor, Humphrey Bogart, who said, “When you’re dead that’s it, you’ve got to press on because life is for the living.” But he also believed, more emblematically, “Love is the one emotion which can relieve, as is ever possible, the essential loneliness of it all.” He loved his family, friends, clients and most others with all his heart.
He spent his last weeks enjoying the company of his wife of 37 years, Paula Cox; his sister and brother-in-law, Lana and Al Kushinsky; his daughter, Jennifer Meng (and her family, husband Mark and grandchildren Jordyn and Nicholas); his son, Justin (wife Elizabeth and granddaughters Quinn and Zoe); and his son Jared (wife Morgan and grandson Hudson).
A ceremonial service will be held on Saturday, June 21 at 2 p.m. at Elizabeth F. Cheney Mansion, 220 N. Euclid Ave. in Oak Park.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the charity of your choice. One of Jordan’s favorites was Parenthesis, an organization that is now a part of New Moms, which provides housing, paid job training, college success, and family support for young moms and their children.