In Memoriam - John R. Watts

 

Dr. John Ransford Watts Passes at Age 90 

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.

Source: Joyce Watts, December 16, 2020

Book Club December 2

Our discussion of Pachinko  covered several topics, following the saga of a Korean family from the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910 through 1989. We got a sense of the lives of Koreans under Japanese rule in their own land as well as their place as second class citizens in Japan to this day. The story is that of a struggle for survival, but includes issues of caste, racial prejudice, survival during war, and the role chance has in individual lives. While covering these and other topics, the story centers on Sunja and her extended family and the relationships which both support and destroy individual survival. Sunja and her sister-in-law use their skills as cooks and their limited resources to survive by selling food. Sunja’s secret, the identity of her son Noa, becomes both a resource and a burden. Noa’s suicide centers on his struggle to accept his Korean identity in a Japanese world. The game of pachinko is both a thematic motif evoking chance and hope, as well as a means of employment and survival for Koreans in Japan.  We enjoyed our wide-ranging discussion of Pachinko, and ended before we had managed to cover everything the book brought up.

Our next book will be Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. We will meet via Zoom on Wednesday, February 3. Meeting starts at 11 am. However, the Zoom link will be open at 10:30, to make sure everyone can  establish a good connection.

Please contact Kathryn DeGraff or Helen Marlborough if you have any questions.

We enjoy catching up with our former colleagues and enjoy welcoming new members to the group. Zoom meetings have provided a great way for colleagues not in the immediate vicinity of the Lincoln Park Campus to participate. 

 

In Memoriam - Patricia Mulligan

 

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

To write a note of condolences go to: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?n=patricia-mulligan&pid=196016172&fhid=16217

Source: Chicago Tribune, April 21, 2020

Photo: SES Luncheon, November, 2003

Book Club October 7

 After Visiting Friends provided many topics for discussion at our October meeting. Several members of the book club especially enjoyed Michael Hainey’s detailed portrait of Chicago in the 1950s and 60s, recalling their own childhood experiences of the city.  Others praised the accounts of newspaper work, both the newsroom itself and the camaraderie of the men who staffed it, noting also that Hainey’s parents met there. Hainey’s training as a news reporter is apparent both in his determined search for the truth about his father’s death and in his direct prose style.  Although some readers faulted the memoir’s style, finding it undistinguished or shapeless, others found it forceful.

As in our reading of other memoirs (such as Educated), we disagreed about the effectiveness and “truth” of some remembered scenes, including Hainey’s imagined recreation of past scenes from others’ hints.  Thinking about memory and the past led the discussion back to Hainey’s intense need to know his father—we considered the appeal of family history in general—and the resolution of Hainey’s search in his realization of his mother’s love and courage.  The narrative arc of the memoir is completed in that final recognition and tribute to Hainey’s mother.

Our next book will be Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. We will meet via Zoom on Wednesday, December 2. Meeting will start at 11 am, however, the Zoom link will be open at 10:30, to make sure everyone can get establish a good connection.

Please contact Kathryn DeGraff or Helen Marlborough if you have any questions.

We enjoy catching up with our former colleagues and enjoy welcoming new members to the group. Zoom meetings have provided a great way for colleagues not in the immediate vicinity of the Lincoln Park Campus to participate and renew old acquaintances!

 

In Memoriam - Dmitry Paperno

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.

Source: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?n=dmitry-paperno&pid=196951424&fhid=4243

Book Club August 5

We came away from our discussion of The Night Watchman with new awareness of and respect for Native American lives. We noted Louise Erdrich’s ability to capture and convey Native American beliefs and the realities of reservation life—its family bonds, its poverty, the government schools. Her vivid treatment of magic and folklore, and its suggestion that what we might call “superstition” depends a good deal on one’s perspective was reflected as well through the comic illustration of cultural assumptions by Mormon missionaries about what’s real.  Erdrich wove together several story lines in different modes—the Night Watchman’s verbal battle with the U.S. government, Pixie’s surreal experiences in the “nightmare” city as she searches for Vera, the story of Wood Mountain’s boxing and his changing feelings, expertly. But she always kept the central focus on the novel on the actual story of her grandfather and his struggle to maintain Indian lands and identity granted by federal law against the 1953 congressional act that would “terminate” them.

Our next book will be After Visiting Friends  by Chicagoan Michael Hainey. We will meet via Zoom at 11:00 am on Wednesday, October 7. Please contact Kathryn DeGraff or Helen Marlborough if you have any questions.

We enjoy catching up with our former colleagues and enjoy welcoming new members to the group. Zoom meetings have provided a great way for colleagues not in the immediate vicinity of the Lincoln Park Campus to participate and renew old acquaintances!

In Memoriam - Alex Devience

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