The DES is open to all faculty and staff of DePaul University who have retired from the university with 20 years of full-time service and are 55 years or older, or have retired from the university with 10 years of full-time service and are 62 years or older.
The Academy building was turned over to DePaul University, and renamed Byrne Hall. Bygone DePaul | Special Collections & Archives
Introduction
About the DePaul Emeritus Society
DePaulUniversity 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.
John Milton Death, Obituary – Fr. John Milton, CSV, would have celebrated 70 years as a Viatorian in September and 65 years as a priest. He was among the inaugural class of brothers to profess first vows at the Province Center in Arlington Heights and he lived out his vows through his long and productive life. Students at Cristo Rey St. Martin surprised Fr. Milton with a cake on his 90th birthday in 2019.
John Milton Death, Obituary – John Milton Has Passed Away
He passed away Jan. 24 at the age of 92. All but five years of Fr. Milton’s active ministry were spent teaching physics. He was a founding member of the science department at Saint Viator High School, where he taught for 20 years, and he spent another 24 years as a professor at De Paul University in Chicago. He started his career at Cathedral Boys’ High School in Springfield, before short assignments at Spalding Institute in Peoria and Bishop McNamara High School in Kankakee.
Upon his retirement in 2011, Fr. Milton served as a science consultant to faculty members at Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep, where he helped obtain lab equipment through his network of physics colleagues and helped to start the school’s first AP physics course. Students and faculty members alike enjoyed the projects he brought to the class, including one standout, “When Pigs Fly.”
It is with great sadness I learned of Dr. Cornelius Sippel death today. I was using his name and wanted the correct spelling and found his obit instead. Dr. Sippel was my History 101 teacher in 1964! May he rest in peace.
CORNELIUS SIPPEL
October 1929 - December 2021
Cornelius Sippel III “Corny”. Corny passed away quietly late December 2021 at Glenview Terrace Care Center following a series of illnesses and setbacks. His accolades included a BA from Carlton College and masters and doctorate degrees in history from the University of Michigan. His academic career was interrupted by the Korean War where he served in the Army stationed in Tokyo Japan. His entire teaching career as a history professor was spent at DePaul University in Chicago where he taught for over 50 years. He always spoke fondly of his students and his advanced classes where debate was fostered and encouraged. As the department grew and the need arose for a professor to teach Russian history, he rose to the challenge, doing research and writing his own book. He carried his love of history and current events into retirement, participating in book clubs and discussion groups. Sports and exercise were a regular part of Corny’s life. He was a lifelong Michigan Wolverine fan and loved Big 10 football. He enjoyed cheering on the Chicago pro teams and called the Cubs the “Loveable Losers”. His love of swimming spanned his entire life and included captaining and being on the swim team at Carlton College. In addition he regularly played racquet sports, organizing a Saturday morning tennis group for many years and playing well into his 80’s. His love of games expanded to Bridge, Poker, and Sunday Game nights and later board games, Trivia, and cards with the grandkids. In the winter he tirelessly spent hours making and maintaining the family backyard ice rink which was enjoyed by friends, family and neighbors and in the summer he grew a wonderful assortment of garden vegetables. In addition for many years he umpired neighborhood “softball” games, planned block party kids contests and helped lead the 4th of July block parade. Dad created many cherished memories as the family photographer and meticulously planned and chronicled many wonderful family road vacations to California, Florida, Yellowstone National Park and others. His children fondly remember the infamous red sweater which he included in many scenic photos to “improve the color” of his slides (or when the kids resisted getting out of the car). A dog lover, Corny supported the SCPA and all his dogs over the years loved him dearly. Dad had a love of “acting” although his only formal role was in a grade school play of the Prince and the Pauper. However, he could recite jingles and intros from old radio and sing all the verses to every Christmas carol with drama and finesse. He played regular characters with kids and grandkids: Ghost, Monster, Mr. Stranger Danger, and the infamous “Fake Santa”. Dad had always told us of his desire to Donate his body to Science and his generosity was very low key and understated. He was a man of little advice but big example. We will miss reminiscing and laughing with Dad about the family vacations, experiences, and cast of family characters with which our lives have been blessed over the years. His place at the table will be missed terribly.
FRIENDS & FAMILY
Children: George Sippel (Tina), Tracey Gordon, Judy Reilmann (Dave) --- Grandchildren: Jeremy Gordon, Sharlene Osilaja (Adeolu), Bethany Duncan (Jeff), Justin Reilmann, Alexander Sippel --- Great Grandchildren: Isaac Osilaja, Naomi-Noelle Osilaja, Michael-Gabriel Osilaja
Frank Sherman passed away November 22, 2021, at home attended by his wife, Barbara, daughter, Emily, and grandson, Ian Koller.
Frank Eugene Sherman was born October 4, 1927 in Lakeview Michigan. His childhood was spent in Lakeview until the Great Depression forced his parents to place him in an orphanage in Ohio. He moved to Chicago and lived on his own at age 16. Frank enlisted in the Army in January 1946, serving until discharged June 22, 1947. He attended the University of California at Berkeley on the GI bill, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He continued at Berkeley to earn a PhD in English Literature. While in graduate school, Frank met and married Barbara Hope. They had two daughters, Celia and Emily. His teaching career began at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, continued at Roosevelt College, and DePaul University, from which he retired as Professor Emeritus of American Literature in 1987.
Frank's enthusiasm for education transcended his career. He was an early supporter and proselytizer for KPFA, the pioneering Bay Area radio station. He took his family for a European tour for most of 1965. He mentored many student groups on trips to England and Europe. Frank also enjoyed travelling on his own or with Barbara, primarily to London, Paris, Vienna, and Bayreuth. During retirement, he continued his dedication to, and support of, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and local theater. Chicago audiences and his many friends in the Arts community will be a little poorer because of his absence.
Frank is survived by his wife, Barbara; daughters, Celia Roe and Emily Sherman; grandchildren: Francesca Hugueny, Alexander Roe, and Laurel and Ian Koller; and great-granddaughter, Beatrice Hugueny.
Memorial donations in Frank’s name may be made to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association, Development Department, 220 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60604 or at: https://cso.org/support/make-a-gift/
A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
Obituary: Sally Anderson Kitt Chappell, Ph.D. (1929–2021)
by Pauline Saliga, Kevin Harrington and Elaine Harrington | Aug 10, 2021
Sally A. Kitt Chappell thrived on community, humanistic ideas and independent initiatives. She spent much of her adult life pursuing and integrating all three. Her gift for friendship and building new communities was recognized by all who knew her, however slightly, but particularly through her creation of numerous reading groups. Her love for and engagement with ideas spanned her life from her first years at Mills College to her last days when she described her final visits with family and friends as surreal in a good way, like the plot of a Magic Realism masterpiece. Her love of independent initiatives revealed itself in the quality of her work as a gifted scholar, teacher, colleague and administrator, and in the key role she played to create the Illinois League of Advocates for the Developmentally Disabled in 1997 to protect the rights of developmentally disabled individuals living in State Operated Developmental Centers in Illinois. In retirement she became even more prolific by publishing scholarly and popular books on ancient architecture and cultures, Chicago parks, poetry, children’s books, and a bibliomemoir on her ten favorite books that she read again and again. She also made time to master ikebana and watercolor.
Sally Anderson was born in Topeka, Kansas, 27 June 1929, the first child of William Elbert Anderson, owner of a wholesale grocery business, and Elinor Tanke Anderson. In her 2009 book, Words Work, Sally Chappell described her birth as “a lucky start, for my father was a big-hearted, sensitive man and my mother a poet. She loved to read poetry aloud at bedtime and I am sure she planted the seeds of a love of meter and rhyme in me that would grow over the years.”
Even as a young person, she loved both the natural and the built worlds. She developed an early engagement with nature while spending summers with her Aunt Dorothy in Port Clinton, Ohio, a popular vacation spot on the shoreline of Lake Erie. She also was curious about architecture at an early age, and she long remembered Topeka High School, designed by alums, Thomas Williamson, Ted Griest, and Linus Burr Smith and opened in 1931, as being “a very beautiful building.”
After her family encouraged her to leave Topeka for college, Anderson first attended Mills College in Oakland (1946–1948) then transferred to Smith College (1948–1950) where she earned a B.A. in political science. There she was introduced to her future husband, Vere Claiborne Chappell, by the latter’s sister who also attended Smith College. Post-college Anderson took a grand tour of Europe to see art and architecture first-hand. While there she also trained as a German interpreter. Sally Anderson and Vere Chappell married and moved to New Haven where Vere earned his Ph.D. in philosophy, and their first two children, Jennifer and Jonathan, were born. When Vere accepted a teaching post at University of Chicago, the couple moved to Chicago and had a third child, David. It was at University of Chicago that Sally Chappell began working on an M.A. in 1957 with Dr. Earl Rosenthal, historian of Renaissance art and architecture. She completed her M.A. in 1962. During the same period Sally and Vere Chappell divorced, and Sally reared their three children alone while teaching at Kendall College in Evanston and later at Mundelein College in Chicago. From 1965 to 1968 Sally Chappell attended graduate school at Northwestern University where she worked with Dr. Carl Condit, a historian of architecture and urbanism who wrote pioneering books on the history of Chicago architecture, particularly skyscrapers. Condit’s wife, Isabel, was a legendary peace activist in Chicago, and Isabel’s activism was as important to Sally as Carl’s scholarship. Under Carl Condit’s influence, Chappell became immersed in the history of both world and Chicago architecture, and she published articles on Chicago and architects Mies van der Rohe and Francis Barry Byrne in the Prairie School Review and New City. Her Ph.D. thesis was a monographic study on Prairie School architect Francis Barry Byrne.
Dr. Sally Chappell’s teaching career began in earnest in 1968 in the Department of Art at DePaul University where she began as an assistant professor who taught both general education art history survey classes to a great many first-generation students and more specialized courses focusing on art, architecture and urbanism to art majors. Although not particularly religious herself, she enthusiastically adopted the mission of St. Vincent de Paul for the education of children in the age of urbanization and industrialization, and Chappell was soon promoted to associate and then full professor.
Chappell’s students remember her as a master of engagement because she started every class with a five-minute discussion about life or current events. She would ask students for their opinions and make everyone feel that their comments were taken seriously, much to their amazement. She considered these discussions life lessons and to this day her students cherish all the critical-thinking skills she helped them develop. Back in the classroom, having successfully broken down the social barrier between professor and students, she continued with the class content, using the Socratic method to extend the dialog and make the class a meeting of minds. Her students loved her, not just for what she taught them, but for the authentic concern and respect she showed them. As a former student, Fr. Ed Udovic, C.M., Ph.D. recently wrote, “I had never before had a teacher like Sally. Her passion swept the class up in an exciting embrace, and pushed us forward not just to see, but to understand, appreciate, question, and envision…Her classes helped form me as a historian, and nurtured my desire to do doctoral studies and teach.” In recognition of her transformative teaching style and leadership, in 1990 DePaul University presented Sally with two of the most prestigious awards that the university bestows on their professoriate: the Courtelyou-Lowery Award for Excellence in Teaching and Collegiality and the Sears Roebuck Award for Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership.
During her years at DePaul, Chappell delivered many scholarly and public talks on a wide variety of topics focusing on buildings, engineering, urban planning, and landscapes with the same charisma that she brought to the classroom. She also published on those topics in prestigious publications including Art Journal, Inland Architect, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Threshold, the Chicago Architectural Journal, and the MacMillan Encyclopedia of Architects.
In the late 1970s and 1980s Chappell expanded the scope of her work to serve three communities-—the public, her university, and fellow professionals. For the public, Chappell collaborated on exhibitions organized by two newly-established Departments of Architecture in Chicago museums. The first was at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1979 with curator John Zukowsky and architectural historian Robert Bruegmann on The Plan of Chicago: 1909–1979. The second was at the Chicago History Museum in 1982 with curator Ann Lorenz Van Zanten on Barry Byrne, John Lloyd Wright: Architecture and Design. For her university, Chappell helped secure two Title 6 grants to create an image library for teaching, and accepted important committee assignments including Graduate Studies, Freshman Seminar and Honors, and Chair of the Art Department (1977–1980). For her profession, Chappell served as president of the Chicago Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians (1981–1982), on the Board of Trustees of the Chicago Architecture Foundation, and for many years on the Board of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. Also for her profession, in 1984 Chappell organized and directed a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute, an eight-week master class for 25 college professors from across the U.S. The Institute, which focused on new views of Chicago architecture and urban planning, featured lectures by local professors including Robert Bruegmann, Carl Condit, Joan Draper, Kevin Harrington, David van Zanten and other experts from the area’s leading universities and cultural institutions, which at the time all had strong architectural history programs. The institutions included DePaul, Illinois Institute of Technology, Northwestern, University of Illinois, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Architecture Foundation, the Chicago History Museum and the Graham Foundation for Advanced Study in the Fine Arts.
In 1977 Chappell entered a second, joyous marriage to psychiatrist Dr. Walter Kitt. They honeymooned in Europe, including Venice, a city that Chappell introduced to her students through passages from John Ruskin’s The Stones of Venice and Frank Jewett Mather’s writings, which she read aloud in class. Walter and Sally enjoyed more than 44 years together. They continued to travel extensively for many years, including a notable 1990 trip to Japan through the DePaul Foreign Studies Program. While in Kyoto, by chance and innate charm, they became acquainted with a wealthy Japanese sight-seer who escorted them around Kyoto in a chauffeur-driven car to visit all the gardens and temples that were on Kitt Chappell’s well-researched itinerary. Sally and Walter also spent many winters in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Sally, true to form, created another reading group, this time of poets.
In 1987 Chappell was invited back to the Art Institute to write a catalog essay for a major exhibition that opened in Chicago and later traveled to Paris and Frankfurt, Chicago Architecture: 1872–1922: Birth of a Metropolis. Chappell’s essay for the catalog, “As If the Lights Were Always Shining: The Wrigley Building,” was the result of her multi-year year study on the Chicago architectural firm Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White. Her research culminated in a monograph on the firm titled, Transforming Tradition: Architecture and Planning of Graham, Anderson, Probst and White (1912–1936) (University of Chicago Press, 1990). The book won the Association of American Publishers’ award for Most Outstanding Book on Architecture and Urban Planning in 1992.
After Chappell retired from teaching in 1994, she had time to pursue her passions, which included scholarly and popular writing, poetry writing, travel, book discussions, ikebana, and watercolor. Chappell published two books through University of Chicago Press in retirement, Cahokia: Mirror of the Cosmos (2002) and Chicago’s Urban Nature: A Guide to the City’s Architecture + Landscape (2007). In more recent years, Chappell discovered the joy of self-publishing on topics of special interest to her, including Words Work: Selected Writings of Sally A. Kitt Chappell (2009), the bibliomemoir The Ten Heavens of My Literary Paradise (2014), the children’s book Gloria Goldfish Loses a Loved One (2014), and many books of her poetry including Shards (2012), The Time the Stars Came Down (2016) and In Praise of Flesh: New and Selected Poems (2017). She also enjoyed appearing, and often winning, poetry slams at the Green Mill, where Marc Smith started the Uptown Poetry Slam in 1984.
Chappell was also a founder of seven or more book clubs over the years. One she called the Dante Club, or "the not-for-sissies book club," as she said sometimes. It has met for more than 25 years, often reading classics, but also new books of note as well. This includes one wonderful meeting and stay in Tuscany at La Foce, the estate of Iris Origo, where club members discussed Origo’s WWII memoir, War in Val D'Orcia. Other reading groups Chappell founded include George Eliot, Proust, Broch and Saramago.
In closing we leave you with two fond memories of Kitt Chappell from friends and colleagues. Karen Wilson, former Fine Arts Editor at University of Chicago Press, wrote, “I knew Sally as an exacting, broadly informed and self-directed scholar, as her publishing interests clearly indicate. But beyond informed and curious, Sally seemed always to be in possession of a world of talents. In our dealings and interactions, she showed an unmistakably indomitable and larger-than-life personality…” And from Sally and Walter’s close friends Kevin and Elaine Harrington, “We recall that Sally characterized herself as “ardent.” She said it reflecting on her approach at life, her fundamental character throughout life...She was ardent about ideas, art, architecture, cities, books, friends, Walter, her children and family, music, opera (her recall of arias by favorite singers, often heard years apart), teaching and learning.”
Sally A. Kitt Chappell died as she wished, peacefully at home and surrounded by family, on August 2, 2021, after a short illness. Kitt Chappell is survived by her husband of more than 44 years, Dr. Walter Kitt, daughter Jennifer, sons David and Jonathan (married to Mary McGee Chappell), and step-son Gregory Kitt. Kitt Chappell is survived by four loving grandchildren, David’s son, Antionio Chappell, and Jonathan and Mary’s three children, Jennifer (Chappell) Ringwald (married to Steven Ringwald), Lauren Chappell, and Ryan Chappell (married to Ciara Delaney). Kitt Chappell expressed sadness that one granddaughter, Katherine Chappell, predeceased her in an accidental death, and felt blessed with the birth of one great-grandchild, Ruby Katherine Ringwald (daughter of Jennifer and Steven Ringwald), to whom Sally dedicated her 2016 book of poetry, The Time The Stars Came Down. Kitt Chappell is also survived by four siblings: Georgana Tait, Ralph Allen, Glynn Anderson and John Anderson.
A memorial service will be planned in the coming months. In lieu of flowers, please direct memorial gifts in honor of Sally A. Kitt Chappell to the Illinois League of Advocates for the Developmentally Disabled. You may donate online at iladd.org/donate. You also may mail a contribution to ILADD, 8649 Carey Avenue, River Grove, IL 60171-1636, Attn: Wayne Ryerson, Treasurer. Telephone is 708-453-2824.
– Pauline Saliga, Kevin Harrington and Elaine Harrington
Source: Society of Architectural Historians, August 10, 2012; https://www.sah.org/about-sah/news/sah-news/news-detail/2021/08/10/obituary-sally-anderson-kitt-chappell-ph.d.-(1929-2021)
Sally A. Kitt Chappell, a respected architectural historian and beloved retired DePaul professor, died Aug. 2, 2021. She was 92.
Chappell joined DePaul's faculty in 1968 and taught for 26 years in the Department of Art, serving as its chair from 1977 to 1980. During Chappell's tenure, her tremendous commitment to liberal arts education, her passion for teaching and her extensive scholarly research contributed to the university's growth. She retired in 1994.
Mike Mezey, who served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, recalls her influence on new faculty as the university grew.
"Sally was a role model, particularly for female faculty, about how one could be a prolific scholar — as Sally was — an excellent teacher and a good citizen of the college," Mezey says. "She was involved in recruiting some of the best young art historians who came to DePaul and provided a foundation for what now is a very strong department. So she was, you might say, one of the founding mothers of that particular area of study."
Sally Chappell, shown in an undated photo, taught 26 years in DePaul's Department of Art, chairing the department from 1977 to 1980. (Image courtesy of Special Collections and Archives)
Chappell won several prestigious grants, including two federal grants for the DePaul Library and a $111,500 grant in 1984 from the National Endowment of the Humanities to direct its summer institute. Chappell organized the institute that brought faculty members from around the country to DePaul to study Chicago architecture.
"Without being overly dramatic about it, the current university stands on the shoulders of people like Sally," Mezey says. "People who were there when the university wasn't what it is now and who, through hard work, built what we currently have."
Chappell was a passionate teacher, deeply committed to the value of a liberal arts education for undergraduate students. She was the first DePaul faculty to earn the Sears Roebuck Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award in 1990. The same year, DePaul awarded her the Rev. William T. Cortelyou-Martin J. Lowery Award for Excellence, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' highest faculty honor.
Pauline Saliga, who took some of her courses in the early 1970s, calls Chappell's teaching "beyond compare." Inspired in part by Chappell, Saliga pursued a career in architectural history. She now serves as executive director of the Society of Architectural Historians.
Saliga remembers how Chappell would start each class with a five-minute discussion about a current event or life decision she was wrestling with, then ask students to weigh in.
"That's one of the things that I learned from her that even the seemingly simplest questions do have a certain level of complexity, if you take the time to consider all sides," Saliga says. "And it's that critical-thinking aspect of her work that I still carry with me today, questioning and trying to get at the kernel of truth." Saliga co-wrote an obituary for the society honoring Chappell.
Chappell was a respected voice on Chicago architecture, one of her research passions. She wrote extensively both for scholarly journals and the general public about architectural history, urban planning, city parks and landscape architecture. She authored several books, including the first academic history of the architecture firm Graham, Anderson, Probst and White, which designed the famed Wrigley Building in Chicago. She also wrote the first book about Cahokia Mounds from an architectural history viewpoint, and she completed a guide to Chicago's parks and landscapes.
Chappell is survived by her husband of 44 years, Dr. Walter Kitt, three children, one stepchild, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Chappell earned her doctorate in architectural history from Northwestern University. She also held a bachelor's degree from Smith College and a master's from the University of Chicago. A memorial service will take place in the coming months.
Jill O'Brien, professor emeritus in the College of Communication, passed away on June 30. She served DePaul University for 34 years, in the Department of Communication and then the College of Communication, in roles that included associate dean of the college, chair of the department and the second communication studies program director.
During her career at DePaul, O'Brien made substantive contributions to the development of the communication program, including expanding the curriculum to include organizational and interpersonal communication, generating the first concentrations in the communication curriculum, authoring the constitution of the newly formed Department of Communication and the restructuring and professionalization of the DePaul radio station.
O'Brien also developed the first adjunct-faculty orientation program, which became a model for other colleges at the university.
Even as she prepared for retirement, O'Brien made substantial contributions on the University Committee on Academic Policy. She will always be remembered for her wonderful laugh, her great sense of humor and her tremendous work ethic.
Finally, upon retirement in 2014, O'Brien received the Via Sapientiae Award, the highest honor DePaul can bestow upon a member of the university community, in recognition of her distinctive and extraordinary contributions.
Jill had a big personality. Her wonderful laugh, gift for funny storytelling, quick wit, and deep loyalty will always be remembered by those lucky enough to have known her.
Jill's formal education began at Queen of All Saints elementary school, Regina Dominican High School and Siena Heights College in Adrian MI where she took vows as a Dominican (1968), Her formal education continued at Loyola University (Chicago) and then the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) where she earned her doctorate in Communication (1974). Jill's list of lifelong learning achievements and certifications are innumerable. Jill taught many levels of students ranging from 1st graders (Toledo, OH) to college students at Murray State U (KY)and then undergrad, grad, post-grad & professional students through DePaul University, (Chicago) where she was on the faculty for over 34 years. During her long career she was instrumental in expanding the Communication class offerings through their English Dept. When a Dept. of Communication was created Jill authored it's constitution, generated the first concentrations in the new department's curriculum and served as it's second-ever chairperson. She was also responsible for restructuring and professionalizing DePaul's radio station. DePaul eventually launched a separate College of Communication (2008) with Jill developing many of it's new programs & initiatives including a first ever orientation program for adjunct faculty which became the model for other colleges. Even as she prepared for retirement Jill served on the University Committee on Academic Policy. After her retirement Jill became a recipient of DePaul's Via Sapientiae Award - the highest award which can be conferred upon a member of the DePaul community to recognize distinctive and extraordinary contributions to the university throughout a professional career.
Jill also had a full private life which included volunteering enormous amounts of her time, energy & boundless talents to her work for the Dominicans. This included serving on the Advisory Board of Dominican University 's McGreal Center. She was the Central Province archivist and in 2013 crafted the Lay Dominican Oral History project (LDOH). Jill was honored to represent Dominican Laity for the entire USA in Rome for the 800th anniversary of the death of St Dominic (2017). Jill touched thousands of lives during her lifetime.
In her home during her last days on earth a priest from her longtime parish (QAS) anointed her, Rainbow Hospice followed her, closest family cared for her & sat vigil in person as countless others added their prayers for the angel of peace to watch over Jill and lead her to the reign of God. St Catherine of Siena said "be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire". Jill did just that. Services and interment private. Burial Mt Carmel Cemetery. Prayers, masses, & sharing of a memory on her memorial at www.smithcorcoran.com and www.legacy.com would be appreciated. For further information contact Smith Corcoran Funeral Home at 773-736-3833
Frank E. Wukitsch, 79, passed away on January 26, 2021 in Geneva. Frank was born on April 18, 1941 in Chicago to Frank and Dorothy (nee Schlesser) Wukitsch. He was united in marriage to Susan (Bonnie) Zimmerman on April 30, 1968 in Basel, Switzerland.
Frank will be remembered for his love for his family, the theatre and old tools. Frank’s father, a tool and die man for the Chicago Stockyards, instilled a love for woodworking and tools at a young age. Frank would often go with his father to job sites and learned woodworking from a master. After four years in the army (stationed in Germany), Frank went to work for the Raytheon Company working on missiles. While in Germany, Frank and Susan were introduced by a mutual friend and were married two months later in Basel, Switzerland. Returning to the United States, Frank received a Masters Degree in Theatre and went on to teach theatre at the Latin School in Chicago and The Goodman School of Drama/The Theatre School- DePaul University. His many students talk of his “quiet but powerful sense of calm and generous heart” and his giving of his sandwiches is legendary.
Frank instilled in his young children a love of the arts, and specifically, the theatre. Many a weekend was spent on the train going into Chicago to see one of the children’s shows at the Goodman Theatre and later The Theatre School- DePaul University. Lisa and Gil carry on that love of the arts and the theatre in their jobs as music teachers, pit orchestra directors, and drama directors.
After his retirement, Frank and Susan could be found antiquing, always bringing home that “new” antique tool or another book or piece of china. Frank volunteered with Preservation Partners of Fox Valley, helping to restore some of the old machinery and giving tool talks to weekend visitors. Frank spent time with his adult children, helping Lisa to build scenery for her school and helping Gil to rebuild his old barn. Frank enjoyed visiting the farm animals with his granddaughter, Ava, and talking Legos with his grandson, Grant.
Frank leaves behind his wife, Susan, his children, Lisa (Chris) Wukitsch and Gil (Danielle),Wukitsch, his grandchildren, Ava Wukitsch and Grant Wukitsch, his brothers, Tom (Margaret) Wukitsch and Bob (Barbara) Wukitsch, his sister, Lori (Nick) D’Asta, many cousins, numerous nieces and nephews, many friends, and countless students.
Frank is preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Dorothy Wukitsch, and his stepmother, Grace Wukitsch (nee LeBanco).
Ambassador John F. Kordek (Ret.) of Arlington Heights Retired U.S. Ambassador John F. Kordek was born on June 9, 1938, in Chicago, Illinois, to John and Harriet (nee Rogalski) Kordek. He died Tuesday, February 16, 2021, at home with his loving wife by his side.
Following graduation from Weber H.S., he joined the U.S. Air Force and served four years on active duty with the Strategic Air Command (SAC) 818th Air Division of the 8th U.S. Air Force.
When he completed his active military service, he graduated from DePaul University with a PhB in 1964. Kordek is also a graduate of the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University. The Ambassador also studied at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and graduated from three languages (Serbo-Croat, Polish, and Spanish) and area studies programs from the State Department's U.S. Foreign Service Institute.
Recruited while a college senior at DePaul for the U.S. Foreign Service. He worked for 26 years with the USIA, ICA, and the U.S. State Department, attaining the rank of Career Minister and then U.S. Ambassador.
Kordek served in Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Venezuela, Botswana, and Washington D.C. He also worked in numerous other countries as part of official U.S. foreign policy and public diplomacy delegations. One of his first jobs in the Foreign Service in 1965 was to escort Louis Armstrong, who was visiting the former Yugoslavia as part of the U.S. State Department Cultural program overseas.
Ambassador Kordek held many senior positions in the U.S. Foreign Service, including Acting Deputy Ambassador DCM) at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw during the rise to power of the Solidarity movement and the visits of Pope John Paul II to Poland.
During President Reagan's presidency, Kordek was the USIA Director of European Affairs and then the Counselor of the Agency, the highest career official in USIA.
He participated in the Geneva and Reykjavik summit meetings between President Reagan and Soviet leader Gorbachev and numerous international negotiations, including those with the Soviet Union, Poland, Germany, and other countries.
President Reagan nominated Kordek as a U.S. Ambassador in 1988, and the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed him. During the Reagan Administration, he briefed senior officials, including Vice President Bush, and participated in several key National Security Council meetings at the White House chaired by the president.
During his foreign service career, Kordek was nominated for diplomatic positions by every American president, from Lyndon B. Johnson to Bill Clinton.
Following his retirement from the U.S. Foreign Service, Kordek joined DePaul University, where he worked for 15 years as Associate Vice President and taught courses on WWII and the Holocaust. He also lectured at many universities and organizations.
President Clinton, in 1995, appointed Kordek to two five-year terms to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council in Washington, which oversees the operations of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Kordek served on the Council's Executive Committee and the Committee on Conscience, which monitors genocide worldwide.
Clinton also selected Ambassador Kordek to be a member of the U.S. presidential delegations to commemorate the 50th anniversaries of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the 1945 liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau NAZI death camps. He traveled with, among others, on these delegations with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel.
Kordek is the recipient of many honors, including a presidential award from President Reagan for "..., sustained superior conduct of U.S. foreign policy"; Distinguished and Superior Honor Awards from the State Department, ICA, and USIA.
The Ambassador is also the recipient of the "Via Sapientiae Award," DePaul University's highest faculty-staff honor. It was awarded to Kordek for his work to educate generations of students and faculty "....about the horrors of bigotry and the promotion of the value of dignity and respect for all people."
Ambassador Kordek served on several boards of directors when he returned home to Illinois, including the Illinois Humanities Council and the Chicago International Visitors Center. He chaired the Chicago-Warsaw Sister Cities program and was co-chair of the National Polish American - Jewish American National Council.
Kordek is a world traveler. His foreign service assignments took him to the four corners of the world. In retirement, he and his wife continued their travels visiting all the earth's continents. He loved opera, classical music, and jazz. And was a voracious reader of world history.
John is survived by his spouse of 56 years, Alice (nee Kleczynski); son Andrew (Elizabeth) Kordek; daughter Catherine (Lynn) Stover; grandchildren Joshua Kordek, Henry Stover, and Will Stover; brother Phillip (Theresa) Kordek and sister Judy (Chester) Pasowicz.
A Memorial Service for John will be held at a later date.
Don Banik worked in Security at the Lewis Center. He always had a smile on his face. Rest in peace, Don.
Donald J. Banik, US Army Veteran, at rest February 10th at age of 86; Beloved husband and best friend of Mary Ann, nee Wowczuk for over 54 years; Loving dad of Michelle (Ed) Snorewicz, Dawn (Jim) Cooke, Maribeth (Nicole) Conway, Donald (Collen) Rost Banik and David Banik; Cherished grandpa of Emily, Jacob, Matthew, John and Danny; Fond brother of Dolores (late Stanley) Koslowski; Dear brother-in-law of Collette (late Robert) Kampendahl; also survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins, extended family and friends. Visitation Monday, February 15th from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Curley Funeral Home, (Kubina-Tybor Directors), 6116 W. 111th Street, Chicago Ridge. Family and friends will gather on Tuesday, February 16th at St. Linus Church, 10300 S. Lawler, Oak Lawn for 11:00 a.m. Mass. Private interment at Good Shepherd Cemetery. Due to Covid concerns social distancing rules will be observed and masks are required. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate considering a memorial donation in Don’s name to St. Linus’ St. Vincent de Paul Society preferred. For Funeral info 708-422-2700, or www.curleyfuneralhome.com
Former dean of The Theatre School was instrumental in move of Goodman School of Drama to DePaul University
CHICAGO — Dr. John Ransford Watts, dean of The Theatre School at DePaul University from 1979 to 1999, died December 14 in Mundelein, IL. He was 90 years old.
Watts, a teacher, designer, director, and scholar, was recruited as dean and charged with reestablishing the famed Goodman School of Drama after its move to DePaul University from the department of drama at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1978. Over the next 20 years, Watts reshaped The Theatre School at DePaul into one of the premiere conservatory theatre training programs in the country.
“Watts’ work to secure the position of the school within DePaul, attract high-quality staff and faculty, and develop a sophisticated curriculum made top 10 conservatory rankings, our new facilities, and amazing alumni accomplishments possible,” explained current Theatre School Dean John Culbert.
Many of the programs and activities Watts put in place have become traditions at The Theatre School: regional auditions, annual touring graduate showcases, and discussions with visiting artists. He also started the Annual Awards for Excellence in the Arts gala in 1989, which has generated more than $7 million for scholarships to date. In 1988, Watts was instrumental in orchestrating DePaul’s acquisition of the historic Blackstone Theatre, now known as the Merle Reskin Theatre, in Chicago’s South Loop.
Watts maintained a distinguished and productive association with the performing arts, humanities, and higher education in Massachusetts, California, and Illinois. He earned an undergraduate degree and a Master of Education degree from Boston College, a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University, and a doctorate from Union Graduate College. He completed post-graduate work at Harvard, UCLA, and Oxford. For 15 years he served on the faculty of the School for the Arts at Boston University as Professor of Theatre, and for five years as associate dean. He was appointed as the founding chairman of the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities, serving in that position for four years.
In 1974, he accepted a one-year guest artist appointment to the faculty of the School of Fine Arts at California State University, Long Beach, which led to his becoming a tenured professor, associate dean, and then dean of the school. While in California he helped found and served as director and vice president of the Public Corporation for the Arts.
In 2000, John Watts received a lifetime achievement award from the Joseph Jefferson Committee “for development and support of theatre artists and the Chicago theatre community during his almost two decades as Dean of the Theatre School/DePaul University.” That same
year, he also received the Via Sapientiae Award from DePaul University, its highest recognition for excellent service and accomplishment.
John and Joyce Watts were recognized in June 2018 in a naming ceremony of the Dr. John R. and Joyce L. Watts Theatre, a 250-seat thrust theatre located on the first floor of The Theatre School’s artistic home on the Lincoln Park campus. The Watts’ family also generously endowed a scholarship supporting students in the playwriting program in 2006.
“John Watts’ inspired leadership for the first two decades of The Theatre School’s life at DePaul University built the foundation upon which all that we now do rests,” said John Culbert. “His legacy will live on through the students, faculty, and staff who would not be here today without his vision for the school.”
John is survived by his wife of 45 years, Joyce L. Watts, and his son, David Watts.
Patricia Mulligan (nee Farrell)--Gone to her final reward on April 19, 2020. Loving daughter of the late Lawrence and Norma Farrell; beloved wife of the late John Patrick for 56 looong and interesting years; always there for us, dear Mom to John (Retired CPD), Karen (Kevin) O'Connell, Larry (the late Michelle Porter) and the late James CPD (Sue); dear mother in law to Virginia Mulligan (RN); Christmas Cookie Making, Easter Egg Coloring Gramma to Katie, John "J.J.", Allie, Sean (Nicole), Kristin, Michael, and Patrick; great grandmother of Connor; sister and best friend of Marian Kulterman and the late Eleanor Swiatly. I love you all now, go and have a great party and be sure to dance on the bar. Arrangements by Cooney Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, donations to the American Heart Association are appreciated. For information please call 773-588-5850 or visit www.cooneyfuneralhome.com
It is with sadness we recently learned of the passing of Dmitry Paperno. May he rest in peace.
Dmitry Paperno, concert pianist, writer, beloved teacher, husband, father, and grandfather died on October 12, 2020 at the age of 91. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Lyudmila; his daughters Anna (Bruce) Radzin and Maria (Boris) Tsipris; and his grandchildren, Alexandra and Samuel Radzin, and Olivia (Jason) Wilson and Eugene Tsipris. Loving caregiver Hatuna helped brighten his last years as well. Our heartfelt thanks to NorthShore Hospice.
He received his musical training under Alexander Goldenweiser at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory, receiving a Master's Degree with Honors in 1951 and an Aspirant Diploma in 1955. A prize winner at the Fifth International Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1955 and the First International Enescu Competition in Bucharest in 1958, Paperno proceeded to perform extensively throughout Russia and Eastern Europe as well as in England, Cuba, and Belgium (as soloist with the U.S.S.R. State Orchestra at EXPO in Brussels in 1958). He also made numerous recordings for Melodiya, the record label of the Soviet Union.
In 1967 Mr. Paperno began teaching at the Gnessin Moscow State Institute. After emigrating to the United States in 1976, Paperno continued to concertize widely throughout the U.S. and Western Europe. A Professor at Chicago's DePaul University since 1977 (now Emeritus), Paperno has been on the jury panel for many international piano competitions. He has also given master classes at the Moscow Conservatory as well as in Belgium, Finland, Portugal, and the United States, including classes at Oberlin and the Manhattan School of Music.
Mr. Paperno is the author of several essays on music and pianism and the books Notes of a Moscow Pianist (Amadeus Press) and Postscriptum. His recordings on Cedille Records include Dmitry Paperno: Uncommon Encores, Paperno Plays Chopin, and Paperno Live.
Services are private and plans will be announced for a future memorial. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the DePaul University School of Music. Notes of condolence may be sent to 1831 Mission Hills Rd., Apt. 508, Northbrook, IL 60062 For information or to leave condolences, Shalom Memorial Funeral Home, (847) 255-3520 or www.shalom2.com.
Alex Devience, Jr., 81 of Park Ridge, was born November 18, 1938 in Chicago to the late Alexander and Charlotte (nee Patelski) Devience and passed away June 13, 2020. Alex was the beloved husband of Arlene D. (nee Nelson) for 59 years; loving father of the late Pepper; guardian of Mark Hageli; fond uncle to Linda, Terri, Diane, Patti, Jane, Charlie, Joseph, Alex, Rachel, Steven, and Karen. Alex served in the United States Navy at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. After the Navy, he earned his J.D. degree from Loyola University, Chicago School of Law. Alex not only loved the law but teaching as well which led him to begin teaching business law at DePaul University in 1974. He continued teaching up until four weeks ago. In 1976, a few years after he began teaching, he opened Alex Devience, LTD located in downtown Chicago, IL. His practice would go on to litigate a wide variety of cases including, Alex arguing in front of the United States Supreme Court. To say he has influenced a great number of people is an understatement. Alex loved his family, from his marriage of 59 years to Arlene to his involvement with numerous nephews and nieces, his laugh and playful teasing will be missed. He led by example for all to see. Interment will be at Town Of Maine Cemetery. In lieu of flowers the family asks that a donation be made to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Alex's name. Source: Online: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/des-plaines-il/alex-devience-9219447
