Fletcher, Archibald Eaton, Jr. ‘Archie’
Archibald Eaton Fletcher, Jr known as “Archie” by family and friends, died on Wednesday, June 22, 2023 right after getting his hair cut in Lake Bluff. He was 90 years old at the time of his death caused by congestive heart failure.
He was a long-time resident of Lake Bluff over six different decades and served on the Park Board for a number of years.
Born in Dayton, Ohio during the depths of the depression in October 1932, Archie was the son of Archie E. Fletcher, Senior and Zora Isabel Fletcher. Later in his childhood he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where his father was an executive for Standard Oil. He went to The Taft School, a college-preparatory boarding school in Watertown, CT, followed by college at Case (Western Reserve) in Cleveland and graduated in 1954. He was an active member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, for which he stayed connected with the rest of his life serving a regional Province President. While he was going to college, he met Dorothy Jean, a nursing student. They got married in November 1953 and were married for 55 years until “Dottie” died in June 2008.
They had three children together, David (Casey Ann Coon and the late Wanda Ellithorpe-Fletcher), Sally, and Thomas Eaton (Cindy Fletcher).
As a man of action, he sought new love and was blessed to meet Kathleen Margaret Moeller (Kathy) in September 2008. They fell in love with their common love of travel and movies. On September 12, 2009 they were married at the First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest.
Besides being survived by his three of his own children, Archie is survived by four grandchildren (Janine, Jeffrey, Abigail, and Austin) and seven great grandchildren (Forrest, Hendrix, Finley, Lincoln, Falon, Malcolm, and Farrah). He is survived by Kathy’s daughter Trisha and her three children Jessica, Kailee, and Kira, as well as three greatgrandchildren Aiden, Ayla, and Mason.
After finishing school in Cleveland and working for several area business, Archie relocated to Peoria, Illinois where he worked at Westinghouse lighting division. While in Peoria, he was the President of the local Peoria Golfer’s Association and lit the first “night golf course” in downstate Illinois.
In late 1966, Archie moved his family to Glen Ellyn, a Chicago western suburb (“because it was in the middle of some great golf courses” he revealed a couple of months ago). Together with his son David, he started the Glenbard West hockey club in 1972, where coached for several years.
In 1987, after designing the lighting studio for a new and upcoming talent in Chicago, named Oprah Winfrey, Archie and his youngest son Tom started Fletcher Chicago, a fledging new venture to service the emerging television and movie industry. In 1991, Archie and Tom proposed placing a robotic camera that was installed under the scoreboard at the old Chicago Stadium for the NBA Finals, Soon Archie’s daughter Sally would join the team and under Archie’s leadership, the team at Fletcher Sports began to innovative multiple camera shots that would revolutionize sports broadcasting worldwide. Fletcher Chicago would go on and own every NHL goal camera in North America. The team at Fletcher would go on to win several national Emmys and open offices in London prior to the 2012 Olympics. In, 2018, Archie sold Fletcher, now owned by NEP. He finally retired at 83 years old.
Fletcher Chicago also served the growing motion picture industry in Illinois. Archie helped create the Illinois Production Alliance to lobby for tax incentives to bring the Hollywood industry to the state. Archie help led the cinema camera rental team into the digital age of filmmaking.
He spent the rest of his life serving as the Chief Financial Officer for his son David’s medical practice in Champaign and serving as a deacon at First Presbyterian Church in Lake Forest. He was a leader in the men’s prayer group Men of Corinth and often led bible studies, where biblical passage quizzes were beloved.
He was a passionate Chicago Black Hawks fan and season ticket holder, as well as Chicago White Sox fan and season ticket holder. He proudly boasted he was at Mark Buhrle’s perfect game in 2009.
In his last few years, he is blessed that his daughter Sally, son Thomas, and granddaughter Janine and her family all moved to Lake Forest to be close to him. For him having all of his family surrounding him was the legacy he valued the most.
A Memorial Service will be held at 1 PM on Tuesday, June 27, 2023 at First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest with Rev. Kristie Webb Finley as the officiant. Reception to follow immediately after the service in the Great Room at the First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest, 700 N. Sheridan Road, Lake Forest, IL. Interment will be in the First Presbyterian Church Memorial Garden. For information – Reuland & Turnbough Funeral Directors of Lake Forest RTfunerals.com or 847-234-9649).
In lieu of flowers, please donate to PADS, that helps the homeless in Lake County (https://www.padslakecounty.org/donate/) and Archie was a former board member for this charitable organization.