Marlborough and DeGraff - Interviewed

Helen Marlborough and Kathryn DeGraff, recent DePaul Emeritus Society members, have shared their experiences, history and memories with us.  Thank you so much for participating in the DES Oral History Project.

To listen to the interviews, click here.

Thank you Fr. Udovic and Dave Sims for conducting the interviews.

Richardson's Christmas Letter, 2012

To enlarge the letter, click on the image.

In Memoriam - Arthur Thurner

Arthur W. Thurner, 88, of Chicago, died on Thursday, Dec. 6, at St. Agnes Health Care, downtown Chicago, of natural causes.

Arthur was born on Oct. 16, 1924, the son of Joseph and Frances (Duemke) Thurner. A native of Calumet, Mich., he came to Chicago in 1946, and was a longtime resident of Hyde Park.

Educated at the University of Chicago, he received a Master's degree in 1954 and the Ph.D. in History in 1966. After teaching briefly in Chicago high schools, he taught for 24 years at DePaul University. His courses in history and the humanities utilizing various of the so-called Great Books challenged the students and found many admirers. His team-teaching with Dr. Cornelius Sippel of "Fascism and Counterrevolution" was for many years in the 1970s and 1980s a highlight of the DePaul History Department offerings.

He published numerous articles and three books: Calumet Copper and People (1974), Rebels on the Range: The Michigan Copper Miners' Strike of 1913-1914 (1984), and a social history of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, Strangers and Sojourners (1994). Virginia Peterson Thurner, his wife of 35 years, assisted him greatly and edited all of his work. She died Aug. 15, 1993.

He was also a member of St. Thomas the Apostle Church.

Arthur is survived by three brothers, Alfred Thurner of Chicago, Charles (Ann) Thurner of Mechanicsburg, Penn., and George (Virginia) Thurner of Laurium, Mich.; a sister-in-law, Betty Peterson of Shell Rock; a brother-in-law, Glenn (Betty) Peterson of Lincoln, Neb.; and numerous nieces, nephews and friends. Arthur was preceded in death by his parents; his wife; two sisters, Helen and Elizabeth; and two brothers, Frank and Henry.

Prayer services will be held on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 11 a.m. at the Kaiser-Corson Funeral Home in Shell Rock, with Lay Presider, Amy Hoyer, Parish Life Coordinator at St. Mary, leading prayers. Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery in Shell Rock. The family suggests that memorials be directed to charity of donor's choice. Online condolences for Arthur's family may be left at www.kaisercorson.com. Kaiser-Corson Funeral Home in Shell Rock is assisting the family.

Published in Waverly Democrat from December 13 to December 20, 2012

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It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death on December 6th of Dr. Arthur Thurner, age 88.  After earning his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, Dr. Thurner joined DePaul's History Department in 1966.  He taught for 24 years until his retirement in 1990. His courses in history and the humanities utilizing various of the so-called Great Books challenged the students and found many admirers.  His team-teaching with Dr. Cornelius Sippel of "Fascism and Counterrevolution" was for many years in the 1970s and 1980s a highlight of the DePaul History Department Offerings.  He published numerous articles and three books: "Calumet Copper and People" (1974), "Rebels on the Range: The Michigan Copper Miners' Strike of 1913-1914" (1984), and a social history of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, "Strangers and Sojourners" (1994).  Virginia Peterson Thurner, his wife of 35 years, assisted him greatly and edited all of his work.  She died in 1993.

Dr. Thurner is survived by several siblings, and numerous nieces and nephews.  Services have taken place in Michigan.  May he rest in peace.


Office of Mission and Values, December 21, 2012


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DeGraff on Dickens

DePaul blessed with a Dickens archive 

strong on ‘Christmas Carol’

Kathryn DeGraff poses with her favorite edition of A Christmas Carol, a 1940 edition, at DePaul University's Richardson Library in Chicago, Ill., on Wednesday, December 19, 2012. | Andrew A. Nelles~Sun-Times Media

There are no twinkling lights, North Pole elves or candy canes, but tucked into a quiet third-floor office in DePaul University’s Richardson Library is a rare collection of books that speaks to the essence of the modern Christmas experience.

DePaul’s library, 2350 N. Kenmore, is home to more than 1,000 volumes and items relating to Charles Dickens, with an emphasis on “A Christmas Carol.”

“When Dickens wrote ‘A Christmas Carol,’ Christmas was not the holiday we know today,” said Kathryn DeGraff, who has curated the Dickens collection since 1980. “ ‘A Christmas Carol’ was the right story at the right time, and Dickens was clearly the right author for it.” 

Dickens penned the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, his spunky son Tiny Tim and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come in 1843 as a quick way to make a buck. When it was published, Christmas celebrations were making a comeback from a series of Puritanical rules meant to quash what was formerly a bawdy medieval celebration. Dickens’ iconic story and character became synonymous with the modern-day Christmas celebration. 

“This is really about the power of family but it’s also a very important story about the power of giving,” DeGraff said. “By the end [Scrooge] is distributing charity.” 

DeGraff sees the roots of not only the family Christmas celebration in the book.

Kathryn DeGraff shows an 1844 first edition of A Christmas Carol that is part of the Dickens collection at DePaul University's Richardson Library in Chicago, Ill., on Wednesday, December 19, 2012. | Andrew A. Nelles~Sun-Times Media 

Click the photo gallery to view more items from the Dickens' collection photographed by the Sun Times.

Chicago Sun Times, December 21, 2012,  BY KARA SPAK Staff Reporter/kspak@suntimes.com December 20, 2012 5:34PM.  Online @ http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/books/17134625-421/dickensat-depaul.html

In Memoriam - John Willets

The Rev. Dr. John Walker Willets, 71, of Jacksonville, died Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012, at Heritage Health in Jacksonville. 

He was born July 6, 1941, in Moweaqua, the son of Carl Austin and Norma Ann Walker Willets. He is survived by one sister, Marian (George) Manker of White Hall; and seven nieces and nephews, Bonnie (Rod) Wallace of Jacksonville, Vicky Smith of Houston, TX, Robin (Karen) Manker of Chapin, Fred Manker of Springfield, Brenda (Jud) Hawk of White Hall, Bob Manker of Literberry and Julie Manker (Zach Pointer) of Springfield. He was preceded in death by his parents; and one sister, Virginia Arlene Carroll.

Dr. Willets graduated from Jacksonville High School in 1959 and from Illinois College in 1963. After graduating, he taught at Griggsville Junior High School and then taught Chemistry at Jacksonville High School. In 1969, he joined the U.S. Navy and was stationed in San Diego. After his discharge, he became an Associate Administrator at Burnham Hospital in Champaign. During that time, he attended the University of Illinois and received two Masters Degrees and a Ph.D. in Psychology. He then moved back to California to teach at Redlands University. While there, he was ordained as an Episcopalian Deacon by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. In 1995, he began teaching at DePaul University in Chicago, which he continued to do until shortly before his death. He had also been an Adjunct Professor at Lincoln Land Community College.

John was a member of Jacksonville Kiwanis Club, the Jacksonville Elks and the ACLU. He was instrumental in starting the Do What It Takes Committee and was very involved with Jacksonville Promise. He was a gourmet chef, a wine connoisseur and a well-known computer whiz. He always put others first, and was the quintessential teacher. He was very community oriented, and he celebrated people for their differences. John loved his family, and he especially enjoyed spending time with his cats.

A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Saturday, December 15, 2012, at Buchanan & Cody Funeral Home in Jacksonville. Burial will be held at a later date at the Calvary Episcopal Church Columbarium in Lombard. Memorials are suggested to Jacksonville Promise, Jacksonville Food Bank or Calvary Episcopal Church in Lombard. Condolences may be left at www.buchanancody.com.

Buchanan & Cody Funeral Home and Crematorium, December 15, 2012
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John Willets, beloved teacher and mentor at the School for New Learning passed away on  December 13.  John Willets joined the faculty of the School for New Learning in 1995, serving as an Assistant Professor  for several years before moving to Jacksonville, Illinois, his hometown. There he continued his association with SNL, teaching online courses as part time faculty.  Dr. Willets was ordained as an Episcopalian Deacon and received a doctorate in Psychology from the University of Illinois. He was known for putting others first, and was the quintessential teacher. He was very community oriented, and he celebrated people for their differences. A memorial service was held on December 15, 2012, at Buchanan & Cody Funeral Home in Jacksonville. Burial will be held at a later date at the Calvary Episcopal Church Columbarium in Lombard. We will share more when we know more.

SNL will also host a small remembrance service for John in January. We'll share more details about this when we reopen on January 2nd.

Memorials are suggested to Jacksonville Promise, Jacksonville Food Bank or Calvary Episcopal Church in Lombard. For an obituary about John, please follow this link - http://www.buchanancody.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=1873758&fh_id=12328

Our condolences go out to the family, friends, and univesity colleagues who mourn the loss of John. May he rest in peace.  Thank you.

Mission and Values, December 18, 2012

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25-Year Club - 2012

The Union League Club was filled to the rafters with members of the 25-year Club.  Fr. Ed Udovic welcomed all and Fr. Holtschneider described DePaul in 1987 when the new inductees, all 33 of them, joined the DePaul Family.

A delicious lunch was served and three inductees, Judy Bundra, Thomas Mondschean and Elizabeth Coughlin, shared their memories of there FIRST 25 years at DPU.

Fr. Ed Udovic welcoming attendees

Fr. Holtschneider with DES member, Nancy Rospenda

25-Year Inductees and Future DES Members!

Photos: Elaine Beaudoin

DES Gift Giving Results - FY2012

Denny Shea, co-chair of the DES Philanthropy Committee, shared the results of  FY2012 Gift Giving.  Our DePaul students are the beneficiaries of your generosity.  Thank you so much.

Thank you to both Denny and Dick Meister for coordinating the DES gift giving effort.

Half Way to $15,000 Scholarship Goal

Dick Meister and Doris Brown, Co-chairs of the DES Philanthropy Committee, report that we have raised $7,640 as of Nov. 1 for the 2013 DES Endowed Scholarship Fund. Thirty gifts have been made which means there are still a lot of DES members  whose generosity can help us get to the $15,000 we need to meet the challenge match from the Office of Mission and Values. If you have questions, contact either Dick (dmeister@depaul.edu) or Doris (dbrown@depaul.edu).

Thanks, Doris, for the update.

InterChorus Performs at DES Luncheon

DePaul's InterChorus performed at the October 17, 2012 DES Luncheon to the delight of the retirees. 

InterChorus is a coed a Cappella group composed of undergraduate students from disciplines as diverse as anthropology and digital media.  Now in their second year, they had 80 individuals audition to be part of the group.  After listening to InterChorus, we can see why so many students wanted to join of this wonderful organization.

The DES thanks InterChorus for sharing their beautiful voices with us and wishes them much luck during the academic year.

The 5 pieces they performed can be listened to by clicking on the links below.

• Fix You
• I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
• Free Fallin'
• Sea of Love
• Tainted Love

At the end of their performance, a group photo was taken with David Sims, DES Programs and Special Projects Committee member, who originally suggested we invite InterChorus to perform.  Thank you, Dave, for making this happen.

Survey 2012 Summary Results

Denny Shea shared the following survey summary with attendees at our October 19th Luncheon.

DePaul Emeritus Society

The Fall DES Luncheon

October 19, 2012

Report to Membership

The 2012 DES Survey

The DePaul Emeritus Society (DES) conducted a survey of its membership in the late spring and early summer of 2012.  As of mid-July, a total of 111 DES members, approximately 46% of DES membership, returned the survey – a wonderful participation effort by DES members.  Thank You!

Of survey respondents, sixty-six percent live in or near the Chicago-area with the remaining 34% residing in 16 other states.  Fifty-seven respondents retired from DePaul ten or less years ago while 43% are retired for more than ten years with 19 of that cohort being retired more than 20 years.

The format of the survey included five sections. Three of the first five sections required DES members to select from among a list of fixed choices.  In the remaining two sections, respondents were asked for their brief, open-ended replies and for their comments as well.  The 2012 DES Survey Report will be accessible to view on the web in late fall; look for details about accessing it in the next DES Newsletter.

Section I:  The objective of this section was to identify the degree to which DES members use or participate in specific university programs.  DES members were asked to rate the degree of their use or participation in ten university programs.  (See Section I of Survey)  Two university programs/services yielded significantly high frequency-of-use scores:  The DePaul Magazine and DePaul’s E-mail system.  Next in order of frequency-of-use were the DePaul ID card and Campus Connect.  Earning the lowest frequency-of-use scores were Demon Discounts and the St. Vincent Health Faire.

Section II.  The objective of this section was to identify the degree of importance which DES members place on specific DES-sponsored programs.  Respondents were asked to rate the degree of importance for ten DES programs.  (See Section II of Survey)  Three programs yielded significantly high degrees of importance:  The DES semi-annual Newsletter, the DES Endowed Scholarship, and the Oral History Project. Next, in order of importance, were DES Fall & Spring Luncheons, Retiree Benefits Talks/Forums, and the Memorabilia Project.  Earning the lowest degree of importance in the views of DES members were the DES Blog and DES Facebook.

Section III.  Here, the objective was to ascertain the degree of satisfaction that DES members placed in DES – in other words “How satisfied are you with the DES?  The results – and member comments –- were impressive:  all respondents were “Satisfied” to “Very Satisfied” with 51% of DES members being “Very Satisfied”.  Their comments reflected their good to very high degrees of satisfaction.

Section IV.  “What Would You Like DES To Do?” – so read the caption of this section.  The objective here was to identify what DES members might want done this year by DES’ four standing committees.  The result:  please see the reverse side for specific action plans from the chairs of those four committees, who formed their plans based on survey replies from you and other DES members.

Section V.  “Tell Us How DES Can Better Serve You.”  Thirty replies were received, and they are as varied and diverse as our DES membership is.

We encourage you to review and comment on the full 2012 DES Survey Report when it is available.  Access to the report, via the DES website, email or paper, will be detailed in the next DES Newsletter.  If you have observations about the content of this report or comments on the full report, please direct them to Alice Farrell in the Office of Mission and Values at afarrell@depaul.edu or Dennis Shea, DES member, at dennisshea@comcast.net.

Once again, thank you for your wonderful support!

October 19 Luncheon Photos

We had a great turnout, a beautiful All Souls' Mass, a delicious Fall-inspired lunch, and a wonderful performance by the DePaul's InterChorus. 


Video: Elaine Beaudoin

Snapshot of the DES

Here is a snapshot of the DePaul Emeritus Society as of Fall 2012:

• How many of us? We are 245 retirees strong - 29 more retirees than when we began in May, 2008 plus 60 spouses of deceased retirees

• Of the 245 retirees, 62% are faculty and 38% are staff. (151 faculty; 94 staff)

• Our gender representation is approximately 3/5^th male and 2/5^th  female (144 male; 101 female)

• Our current retirees stretch over four decades with the earliest retirement date 1981 - more than 31 years ago.

• Our ages also span a few decades with our youngest retiree being born in 1955 and our most senior retiree born in 1915.

• 72% (177) of us live in Illinois; the remaining 68 live in 26 states and two live in a foreign country.  About 51% of the out-of-state members live in four states: Florida, Wisconsin, California, and Arizona.

This information was shared with the DES members at our Luncheon on October 17, 2012.

25-Year Club Luncheon Invitation - 2012

For those DES members of the 25-Year Club, be sure to RSVP.

Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M.

requests the pleasure of your company at the

Annual Twenty-five Year Club Luncheon

Join us as we honor 25 Year Club members' service to DePaul University and induct
new faculty and staff colleagues into the Club.

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Friday, November 16, 2012

Union League Club of Chicago
65 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604

Reception • 11:30 a.m.     Luncheon • 12:00 p.m.     Program • 1:15 p.m.

Please RSVP your attendance by Friday, November 9, by clicking here

For more information, please contact Tanya Lewis at 312/362-8253.

Business attire required.

  © 2012 | DePaul University 1 E. Jackson, Chicago, IL 60604 | Disclaimer

DePaul InterChorus

The DePaul InterChorus a Cappella group will be performing at our DES Luncheon on Friday, October 19, 2012.  After listening to them in rehearsal in this audio, you most definitely will want to be there.

Fix You (Coldplay Cover)




Posted by DPinterChorus on YouTube, January, 2012

St. Vincent Health Faire, 2012

The first day of the 2012 St. Vincent Health Faire, saw nearly 450 individuals at the Loop Campus and hundreds in the afternoon at LPC.  Tomorrow morning, at Lincoln Park, health screening will continue.

Even Elaine Beaudoin took part today getting her annual flu shot.




A number of tables, each sharing information on aspects of wellness and other DPU benefits, were set up in the first floor of the Student Center.

Jerry Goldman checks out Demon Discounts

In the afternoon, Diana Chin of the HR Benefits department, shared the 2012 changes in benefits and answered retirees' and "prospective" retirees' questions.

The PowerPoint presentation will be available on the DES section of the HR Website later this week.  Click on PowerPoint presentation to go to the DES section of the HR website.

Hope you were able to take advantage of the 2012 Health Faire.

Photos courtesy: Elaine Beaudoin