Byrne Hall

Byrne Hall
The Academy building was turned over to DePaul University, and renamed Byrne Hall. Bygone DePaul | Special Collections & Archives

Introduction

About the DePaul Emeritus Society

DePaul University values its ongoing connections with its faculty and staff retirees, as it values their past contributions to the university’s mission. The DePaul University Emeritus Society was founded in 2008 with the merger of the Staff Emeritus Society and the Emeritus Professors Association. The Society is sponsored by the University’s Office of Mission and Values.

The purpose of the DePaul Emeritus Society is to provide a means for ongoing connection, communication, and socialization between the university and its emeritus faculty and staff, and between individual retirees whose professional lives were for so many years dedicated to university service.

Photos, events, and information of interest to members of the DePaul Emeritus Society will be posted to this blog. Please take a look, add your comment, offer to be an "author" or just enjoy.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

In Memoriam - Bella Itkin-Konrath

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Dr. Bella Itkin-Konrath, Professor Emeritus at The Theatre School, formerly the Goodman School of Drama, where she taught for 47 years, and directed over 200 productions. She passed away on February 9 at the age of 90.

Visitation will take place on Friday, February 11, from 3 - 8 p.m. at Rago Brothers Funeral Home, 624 N. Western Avenue (corner of Erie St. and Western), Chicago, IL 60612

The funeral mass will be Saturday, February 12 at 10 a.m. (gathering at 9:30 a.m.) at St. Vincent de Paul Church, 1010 W. Webster, Chicago, IL 60614.

Reverend Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., President of DePaul University, will preside at the mass, and Monsignor Kenneth Velo of the Office of Catholic Collaboration will deliver the Homily. This will be followed by the interment and a luncheon - details to follow soon.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to the Bella Itkin Scholarship Fund at The Theatre School at DePaul University.

Mission and Values, February 10, 2011

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The Theatre School at DePaul University sadly announces the passing of Dr. Bella Konrath-Itkin, who died at St. Joseph¹s Hospital in the afternoon on Wednesday, February 9th at age 90. Dr. Itkin was Professor Emeritus of acting at The Theatre School at DePaul University, formerly the Goodman School of Drama, where she taught for 47 years, and directed over 200 productions, including THE SEAGULL, ROMEO AND JULIET, TOYS IN THE ATTIC, THE CHERRY ORCHARD, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and the Chicago premiere of Tennessee Williams' ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE.
Dr. Bella Konrath- Itkin is a legend in the halls of The Theatre School at DePaul University, where she helped to foster the careers of innumerable actors, directors, and theatre artists.

³Dr. Bella,² as she was known to her students, was a force to be reckoned with, and served as a role model in the male-dominated theatre community, beginning in the 1940s. She was a proponent of non-traditional casting before the phrase became commonplace, and believed that all students should be provided with the tools to excel in their craft. She was a true theatre artist whose first love was teaching, and her dedication to mentoring could easily be evidenced by her office walls, which were covered with pictures of former students. Her visceral approach to acting and teaching helped her to become a revered director and influential teacher in the Chicago theatre community.

Bella came to this country from Russia in 1932 at the age of 12 with her mother and sister. Her father, David Itkin, was a member of the Moscow Art Theatre¹s Jewish theatre, Habima, and had already settled in Chicago. He taught and directed at DePaul University¹s Department of Drama, as well as at the Goodman School of Drama, where Bella became her father¹s assistant. In 1944, Dr. Bella Itkin began the Lake Zurich Playhouse, a summer theatr that provided early visibility for actors such as the late Geraldine Page and the late Lois Nettleton.

In 1967, Dr. Itkin married Frank Konrath only six months after meeting him when he came to the Goodman School of Drama to work as a carpenter on Hamlet. Frank was a native Chicagoan from the South Side. He and Bella enjoyed many yearly summer visits to Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Bella often referred to Frank as a calming and patient influence, and a true inspiration for her work.

Dr. Itkin was Professor Emeritus of acting at The Theatre School at DePaul University, formerly the Goodman School of Drama, where she taught for 47 years, and directed over 200 productions, including THE SEAGULL, ROMEO AND JULIET, TOYS IN THE ATTIC, THE CHERRY ORCHARD, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and the Chicago premiere of Tennessee Williams' ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE. Dr. Itkin felt was drawn to the works of authors with a certain poetry, sensuality, and passion, including Tennessee Williams and Anton Chekhov.

Dr. Itkin received her MFA from the Goodman School of Drama, studied with the late Sanford Meisner, and earned her doctorate from Case Western Reserve University. During her 15-year term as Artistic Director of the Goodman Children's Theatre, known today as Chicago Playworks for Families and Young Audiences, she directed Treasure Island, Puss In Boots, A Doctor In Spite Of Himself and A Midsummer Nights' Dream, among numerous others. Her work laid the foundation for today¹s thriving children¹s theatre scene in Chicago.

She was a nationally renowned acting coach whose ³inner approach² to acting has helped foster the careers of former students such as Kevin Anderson, Linda Hunt, Harvey Korman, Joe Mantegna, Elizabeth Perkins, Michael Rooker, Kevin O¹Connor, and the late Geraldine Page. Her phrase ³Loves of my life, what is this phoney baloney?² was heard often in the theatre and classroom, and continues to bring a smile of recognition to the faces of her former. She retired from full-time teaching in 1989 and continued to teach part-time until 2000.

In 1994, Dr. Itkin's book Acting: Preparation, Practice, Performance was published by Harper and Collins, and defined an acting technique based on sensory response. The text takes an actor through ³experience exercises² which focus on the five senses individually to explore physical/emotional relationships as they relate to subtext in scene work.

Bella was formerly a member of the Theatre Conference, the American Association of University Professors, and the American National Theatre Association. She was awarded the Sara Spencer Award from the Children¹s Theatre Association in 1980 for long-term contributions to children's theatre in the United States, DePaul University¹s Via Sapientiae Award in 1990, and the Joseph Jefferson Lifetime Achievement Award.

Bella is survived by the countless students and performers who thank her every time they go on stage.

Source: BroadwayWorld.com February 9, 2011 To view the obituary on line or to leave a comment, click here.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

In Memoriam - Robert Lechner, C.PP.S

Fr. Lechner, Former SJC Faculty Member, Dies

Father Robert Lechner, C.PP.S., former Saint Joseph's College faculty member , passed away at Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton, OH on February 22 following complications from heart by-pass surgery. He was 82 years of age at the time of his death.

He was ordained a priest on February 2, 1946. Eight months after ordination he was sent to study philosophy at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, where he received his doctorate in 1950. He was assigned to teach philosophy at Saint Joseph's College where he remained until 1961. From there he moved to Saint Charles Seminary to continue teaching until the philosophy program was closed. He then taught at DePaul University in Chicago until his retirement in 1992.

In 1957 he founded Philosophy Today as a journal that would bring the best of contemporary European thought to North America. It grew to be an influential media for Continental thought. In the early years, most of the articles were translated from European journals, but as time went on major figures made original contributions. Although Fr. Lechner published little of his own work, he was known in the philosophical world as a mentor to many young scholars. In 1991, Philosophy Today published a Festschrift in his honor.

That same mentoring capacity marked his relationship with many students. He will be remembered for his care and attention, as well as his interest in their lives and work. Alongside his philosophical work, he was active in many of the renewal movements that began in the Church in the late 1950's. He worked regularly with the Grail movement, the Trappist monks of Gethsemani Abbey, and with many others in the areas of art and spirituality.

He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, and two sisters. The funeral wake will be held at Saint Charles Center in Carthagena, Ohio at 12 noon (EST) on Thursday, February 25. The funeral liturgy will be celebrated on Friday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m. (EST).

St. Joseph College website, www.stjoe.edu, February 23, 1998