March 17, 1938 – November 12, 2025
James L. Lisher (“Jim”) passed away on November 12, 2025 at the age of 87. He lived a long and vibrant life and was an active and engaged leader in the New Canaan community for over 40 years.
Jim Lisher
Born in Topeka, Kansas on March 17, 1938 to Claude and Eula Lisher, he was raised in Kansas with his brother Ray. He graduated from Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS before serving in the Army as a Second Lieutenant in the signal corps in Fort Monmouth, NJ.
After his Army service, Jim went on to pursue a career in brand management and marketing, starting his career at Proctor & Gamble (“P&G”) in Cincinnati, Ohio. After several years at P&G, he moved to Chicago and then to New York City with RJR Nabisco, where he founded Lisher & Co., his own brand management and marketing consulting firm.
Post his successful business career, Jim became extremely active and engaged in various non-profits in the State of Connecticut, and the New Canaan community, more specifically. He served for 10-years as Chairman of the Town Health & Human Services Commission and also served as Chair of the Aging Commission. He also chaired several studies for the Board of Selectmen on Senior Health Care & Housing needs, which resulted in the New Canaan Optimal Livable Community Plan. As part of the plan, he helped create the iSTEP Tele-Health Program. This program was recognized as a CT Livable Community Best Practice and Jim was recognized with the Silver Source Fairfield County Innovation Award. In parallel to the Tele-Health program, Jim also served on a multi-state team securing funding for a CT low-income seniors health program called TIPS.
Jim was also extremely active in workforce development and career support in Fairfield County and the state of Connecticut, more broadly. Jim previously served as Board Chairman of Career Resources, Inc. (“CRI”), a job training non-profit serving low-income unemployed people with offices across the state. In 1998 he founded the STRIVE job training program in CT for the hardest-to-employ (merging with CRI in 2003). He also founded CaTS, the Career Transition Support group to help support others in Fairfield County with their job searches.
Jim was an active and long-standing member of the New Canaan Men’s Club and was named their 2019 Distinguished New Canaan Man. He also served on the Boards of several local organizations, including Waveny LifeCare Network, The New Canaan Inn, The World Affairs Forum and The Bridge Fund of New York. He was also an active member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, The Gridiron Club, the New Canaan Roundtable and The Lake Club.
When not serving the community he loved, Jim could be found on various tennis courts throughout Fairfield County. Tennis was a lifelong passion which he pursued until the very end. He will be remembered fondly for his generosity, humility and the countless lives he touched through friendship, mentorship, faith and service.
He is survived by his loving family: his wife of 53 years, Eleanor; daughter Lauren; daughter-in-law Gwen; son Erik; daughter-in-law Andrea; granddaughters Alexa and Avery; and grandsons Jack and Jamie. Jim loved his family dearly and was a constant presence at his grandkids’ sporting events, dance competitions and school concerts.
A celebration of life service will be held on Saturday, November 22, 2025 at 11a.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 111 Oenoke Ridge in New Canaan, CT. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Jim’s memory to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (Give Now) or Career Resources, Inc. (Career Resources).
Jim was a mentor, an advocate, and a true friend. He had a gift for making people feel heard, and he could offer encouragement in a way that made you believe things would be alright. I will always remember the small lessons he passed along—like his insistence that lunch should include a beer and that dessert should never be skipped. Those moments captured his warmth and his ability to find joy in everyday life. I will never forget you Jim, Thank you Eleanor for sharing such a great man with this world.
Jim was a true visionary in the fields of Telehealth and senior needs. I enjoyed getting to know him through Roundtable, and am sorry to lose his thoughtful contributions.
Loved Jim. He was a generous advisor to so many people during employment transitions. Always ready to lend a hand or a gentle word of good counsel. I will miss seeing his countenance walking about town.
Jim Lisher was, quite simply, a New Canaan institution, the essence of community volunteerism. His kind, courtly and soft-spoken manner in certain ways belied his keen intellect and his studied and masterful understanding of facts and figures, covering numerous health, charitable, governmental, and other worthy causes and policies. He (and unfortunately a number of other kindred New Canaan elder states persons we have lost in recent years) will be deeply missed.
It was an honor and joy to know Jim and to serve with him on HHS. His legacy of service will impact New Canaan for generations. Sending love to the Lisher family; I hope that you feel the collective gratitude of this town, that you find strength in the grief that we share, and that your memories of Jim bring you peace. He will be missed deeply by many.
Jim was a close friend since 1966 when we worked together at Procter & Gamble. He was not only a long time friend, but on several occasions over the years he engaged me to do focus groups for his clients. We spent many a day haveing lunch together, and even had a few times I could get beaten on the tennis court by this old guy! I will really miss him. This world was lucky to have Jim, and he will be missed by so many