Sad News: Dorothy Stevens

 

We were saddened to hear that Dorothy Stevens, who danced with the Argonne group for many years, had passed away recently.  There will be a memorial service April 27, 2024, see:  https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/dailyherald/name/dorothy-stevens-obituary?id=54285614

The photo at left is from the above link.  Below is a photo of Dorothy and her husband Charlie dancing at the Argonne Folk Dance Halloween party back in 1989.

Dorothy made the candle holders shaped like a circle of folk dancers that we used to dance around for the last dance (Kostursko) for many years when we met at the old Argonne Rec Center.  In more recent years, before the pandemic, she would still attend occasionally when her friend Elizabeth, a folk dancer from the UK, came to visit.

 

Sad News: Phyllis Breit

 We were sad to hear of the passing of Phyllis Breit, who we used to see every year at the fall folk dance camp in Oconomowoc.  Phyllis was an active member of the commitee that organized the camp for many years, and she will be missed.

https://www.shalommemorial.org/in-memorial/2023/IV-Carmel/Phyllis-Breit/#obituary

Sad News: Larry Henschen

 We were saddened to hear from Julia that Larry Henschen recently passed away.  Larry & Julia were regulars at Argonne Folk Dancing for many years, starting back when we still met at Argonne National Lab.  Two of Larry's favorite dances that he frequently requested at New Years and Stone Soup parties were Bielolitza Krugolitza, which he wrote on the board in the original Cyrillic, and Trakiskii.  He was very fond of wordplay, and could always be counted on to supply and appreciate puns.

He will be missed.  

Memorials to American Heart Association or American Red Cross appreciated.

https://www.evanstonfuneral.com/obituary/Lawrence-Henschen

https://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/2023/01/professor-emeritus-lawrence-henschen-passes-away/

 

Sad news: Joan Frankel

 

We were saddened to hear that longtime Chicago-area folk dancer Joan Frankel passed away last week.  We often saw her at June Camp, Oconomowoc Camp, and our New Years and Stone Soup parties and other events. She will be missed.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/chicagotribune/name/joan-frankel-obituary?id=38057336

Sad News: Louise Brass

 

We were saddened to find out, belatedly, that Louise Brass passed away last February.  Louise danced with the Argonne group in Downers Grove as well as the Fermilab IFD, English and Scottish groups.   Although our group in Downers Grove was quite a distance from her home in Rochelle, she would stop in whenever her commute from work took her nearby on Fridays. 

https://www.delehantyfh.com/obituary/7374975

Louise was a writer and radio interviewer.  Below are links to some of her work

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6040614.Louise_Brass

https://argonneifd.blogspot.com/2016/05/louise-wbom-interview-tim-macdonald.html

http://wbomradio.com/2019/10/01/rulee-stallman-highlighted-on-artist-spotlight/

Louise Brass talks with website designer Don Gingold for In Print Radio. wbom.playtheradio.com

 

Sad News: Frank Wilhelm

We were saddened to hear that longtime Chicago area folk dancer Frank Wilhelm passed away last month, at age 95.

In his obituary, it says "His greatest passion in life was international folk dancing, but he also loved square dancing, round dancing, and could dance a mean polka. Other hobbies included foreign languages, history, current events, wine collecting, and writing poetry, fiction, and a memoir about his childhood."

 (I added the google search link to phrase about his writing.)

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/chicagotribune/name/francis-wilhelm-obituary?id=31754024

Sad News: Myra Beniger

We received the following sad news from a friend of Myra's today:

"Regrettably, Myra Beniger, my uncle's long-time friend and folk-dancing partner, passed away on April 3, as a result of complications from the coronavirus.  She was in a nursing home in Westmont at the time she became ill.  Her funeral is this coming Tuesday at Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park.  I am in the process of writing an obituary and was wondering if you might have a good picture of her from her folk-dancing days that I might be able to submit along with the obituary.
I trust that you both are well, along with the other members of the Argonne Folk Dancers.  Once again, many thanks for all the love and kindness that the Argonne Folk Dancers extended to Bob and Myra."

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/forest-park-il/myra-beniger-9123259

Mike found this photo of Myra with the U of C group from some time ago:

 

Sad news: Marge Mayer

We were very sorry to hear from Joe that Marge Mayer had passed away Aug 25, 2017, at age 96.  Marge was a longtime Argonne folk dancer.  We had been thinking of Marge just recently when doing New York, New York, which was her favorite dance.

Sad news: Aldona Baranauskas

We were saddened to hear of the passing of Aldona Baranauskas yesterday.  Aldona danced at Argonne for many years.  Roo forwarded the information from Aldona's daughter Marija.  Marija says that there will not be any service, since Aldona specifically didn't want one.  She hopes everyone just takes a moment to remember her joy of dance and maybe something nice about her.  I recall that she really liked to do T'Filati, and Shoofni.   But if Hole In The Wall came on, or if the music was playing too loudly, she would leave immediately.  She used to bring Kugelis (Lithuanian potato pudding) to our pot lucks, always delicious.  Our sympathy to Marija and the rest of her family.


Update: https://www.foxrivercremations.com/obituaries/Aldona-V-Baranauskas?obId=8107350

Sad news: Marcella Ciucki

We were saddened to hear that longtime Argonne folk dancer Marcella Ciucki passed away yesterday (Dec 22, 2017).  Funeral service will be December 29th 2017, 10:30 AM, Our Lady of Grace Church, 3025 Hwy Ave, Highland, IN.

https://www.afterlife.co/us/obituary-munster-marcella-a-ciucki-6617455
"January 30, 1931 - December 22, 2017 Marcella A. Ciucki, 86, of Munster, passed away December 22, 2017. She is survived by several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her brothers and sisters.

Marcella was retired from the Lake County Public Library system. She was treasurer of the Sand Ridge Audubon Society. Besides bird watching, Marcella was active in nature conservation and attending the opera.

A funeral mass will be held directly at Our Lady of Grace Church 3025 Highway Ave., Highland on Friday, December 29, 2017 at 10:30 a.m. There will be an hour of visitation prior to the service at church. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice in Marcella"s honor."

Sad news: Robert Yonco

We got some e-mail yesterday that Robert (Bob) Yonco, "a past president of the Argonne Folk Dancers...[who] loved international dancing" according to his obituary, recently passed away.  I think he must have been before my time, but some of you who have been around longer might remember him.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=185797794

There's a photo that includes him on the ethnicdance.net page for Herman Johnson's 90th celebration: http://www.ethnicdance.net/herman_johnson/herman_gallery_90th_birthday-1.html

Sad news: Regina Fain

We were very saddened to learn yesterday that Regina had passed away in October.  We'd been missing her at folk dancing for the last couple of years since her health had started to fail.  Before that, we saw her at dancing almost every Friday, except during the Lyric Opera season when her season tickets sometimes included operas on Friday nights.  Back when we used to meet at the Argonne Rec Center, she was the one who set up the refreshment table, filled the punch bowl, etc., and was frequently one of the soup chefs for the Stone Soup Party.  She was very friendly and always greeted new dancers.  We miss her.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/regina-fain-obituary?pid=1000000181704409

When a letter I had sent to her at the nursing home in Joliet was returned by the post office, and I google'd her name with some trepidation, in addition to sadly finding the obituary, I found an article about the quilting group that she met with at the Lemont Public Library (where she was also a volunteer, always helping with their book sales).  You can see Regina in some of the photos in the photo gallery with this article:
http://patch.com/illinois/lemont/longtime-quilters-celebrate-art-friendship#

I tried to embed a slideshow below, but it doesn't seem to be showing up right -- here's the link:
http://s926.photobucket.com/user/argonneifd/embed/slideshow/Regina

Sad News: Selcuk Cihangir, Services Sat-Sun Dec 19-20, 2015

http://news.fnal.gov/2015/12/selcuk-cihangir-former-fermilab-employee-passed-away/

 We were saddened to receive the following news from Paul:

To: Ethnic Dance Chicago Email Distribution

Dear Folks:

Sad news - In case you had not heard, our friend, Selcuk Cihangir,
passed away from a massive heart attack on Monday morning. I received a call on Tuesday morning from Diane Cihangir.

The family has sent me information about their planned memorials to
Selcuk. Details in the attached pdf document [scan attached below]


Photo Attachment #1:
--------------------
L to R: Selcuk Cihangir, Rosalinde Vorne, Ellen Simon, Paul Collins

FDCC June Camp, Camp Channing, Pullman, MI - circa 1976-1978


Photo Attachment #2:
--------------------
L to R: Atanas Kolarovski, John Kuo, Larry Hoey, Steve Spear, Bill Lee,
Russell Frank, George Ornstein, Selcuk Cihangir, Sulieman Hassan, Robert
Sturm

University of Chicago International Folk Festival - Ida Noyes Hall
Gymnasium - circa 1975-1978

---------------------------------------------

Friday - Dec 18th
------------------
Dance Memorial, Ethnic Dance Chicago will host a dance memorial tribute
to Selcuk Cihangir as we do many of his favorite dances and remember
Selcuk. 8:00pm to midnite - Chicago Latvian Cultural Center,
4146 N Elston, Chicago 60618

---------------------------------------------

Saturday - Dec 19th
-------------------
Visitation & Prayer - 1:30 - 3:30 pm
Muslim prayer offered at 3:15 pm
Albanian American, Islamic Center, 5825 St. Charles Rd,
Berkeley, IL 60163

See Attached pdf for additional details

---------------------------------------------

Sunday - Dec 20th
-----------------
Memorial - 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Club House, Cress Creek
1049 W. Ogden, Naperville, IL 60563

Diane Cihangir has requested that we have some dancing at this
celebration. Selcuk's favorite dances would again be in order.

See Attached pdf for additional details

---------------------------------------------

Selcuk's son Emre is creating a multi-media project to honor his father.
Please send your photos and comments to Emre Cihangir at:
bigbossemre@yahoo.com

---------------------------------------------

The Family is requesting that in lieu of flowers to please contribute to
a transport fund that can help realize Selcuk's desire to be buried in
his homeland. - via PayPal: bigbossemre@yahoo.com

Sad news: Helen Pomerance Johnson

We were saddened to hear of the passing of Helen Pomerance Johnson, longtime Chicago folk dancer and leader.
Here is the link to her obituary in the Chicago Tribune:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?n=helen-johnson&pid=175556609

"Helen Johnson,of Chicago, passed away at age 96 on August 19, 2015, from complications of heart disease. Her husband, Herman Frithjof Johnson, predeceased her. Ms. Johnson served 35 years as a physical education teacher in the Chicago Public Schools, teaching at Gary, Brainard, Webster, Abbott, Sawyer, Nightingale, Parker, and Pasteur Schools. She received the BE from Chicago Teachers College, and MA from Northwestern University. Ms. Johnson was a pioneer in bicycle touring and hostelling, leading 15 summer-long trips through the U.S, Europe, and Japan. Ms. Johnson was active in community leadership, serving as officer of the American Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation; The Suder Club for women physical education teachers; the Retired Teachers' Association of Chicago; Hostelling International, serving on state, national, and international boards; and many folk dance groups. She has given over 3000 hours of service to the Museum of Science and Industry. Interment was private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hostelling International USA, 8401 Colesville Rd, Ste 600, Silver Spring, MD 20910, or the Museum of Science and Industry, 5700 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60637.
Published in a Chicago Tribune Media Group Publication from Aug. 22 to Aug. 24, 2015

Update: a more extensive obituary was published in the Tribune on Friday, Sept. 4:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/ct-helen-johnson-obituary-met-20150903-story.html 
"Helen Johnson, leader of hostel movement, dies at 96"

Memorial Service Oct 25 for Mars Longden.

We were saddened to hear the news of Mars Longden's sudden passing on Oct 4.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?n=Marsden-Longden&pid=172780946 

http://www.suntimes.com/news/obituaries/30430963-418/mars-longden-folk-dancer-singer-financial-planner-dead-at-71.html

Received the following notice of the memorial service from Harry. 

Evanston Monday Night Folk Dancers

Sad News: Allan Michaels

Received the following sad news from Joe M:

Long-time Argonne Folk Dancer, Allan Michaels died on December 24, 2012 in Seattle, Washington.  Allan and Phyllis, his wife, moved to Seattle after they both retired from ANL about 15 years ago.  Allan was a physicist in the Material Sciences Division at ANL;  Phyllis was a supervising administrative assistant.  According to their daughter, Robin Michaels, Allan fell in the shower, bumped his head in early December but did not stop taking the blood-thinning Cumadin prescribed for a slight stroke seven years ago.  A slow brain hemorrhage drove him into a coma from which he did not recover.

Allan and Phyllis were early and enthusiastic dancers with AFD when the club danced at the former ANL Recreation Center east of Cass Avenue.  They organized and rehearsed participants for many AFD performances for special events; and they seldom missed our Friday night dancing.  They continued dancing with groups in Seattle

They recently sold an 8,000-book collection of notable first editions before moving into an assisted living facility for seniors.

Allan's pursuit of his PhD was temporarily interrupted when he and Phyllis spent more than a year in a tuberculosis sanitarium in New York.  Allan worked for a U.S. military contractor in Toronto, Canada before joining the staff at Argonne.

Allan is survived by Phyllis, his wife; daughter, Robin Michaels and her daughter, Thorne. His son, David Michaels of Seattle, died from a heart attack in 2003.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?pid=162256056

Sad news: Charlie Stevens

We were saddened to receive the following from Dorothy:

Just to let you and the other folk dancers know that Charlie died on Wednesday September 28.
I want you to know that he held you all in high esteem and dancing and folk music was an integral part of his life.
There will be a memorial / celebration of his life on November 6 at 3:00 at the DuPage UU Church,
1828 Old Naperville Rd., Naperville, Il 60540

There's a nice write-up of his life here:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailyherald/obituary.aspx?n=charles-martin-stevens&pid=153960671

Sad News: Phyllis Spiegel

Phyllis didn't dance with the Argonne group, but many of you may know her from Lake Geneva/Oconomowoc camp.  Here is her obituary.

Sad News: Ellen Johnson

We're very sad to convey the news of Ellen Johnson's sudden passing. She had a stroke (the first notice we received said heart attack) on the airplane while flying to Southeast Asia on vacation Dec. 28, two days after her 69th birthday. The plane delivered her to Vladivostok, made an emergency landing Russia. One of her sons was able to fly there to be with her before she died in the hospital in Khabarovsk (Siberia) on Jan. 2, 2011, without regaining consciousness.

Ellen danced with us for many years, and will be sorely missed.

There will be a memorial service on Saturday, January 22, 2011, at 2:00pm, at the Dupage Unitarian Universalist Church, 4 S 535 Old Naperville Rd, Naperville, IL 60563.

Obituary in Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette 

Obituary in Naperville Sun


One of Ellen's favorite dances:
Share Gori more by Zeljko Sasic

Sad News - Malcolm McClure

We were saddened to receive this notice from friends in the Illini Folk Dance Society - many of you may also know Malcolm and Erica from Evanston and other Chicago area folk dance groups and events.

Subject: Saturday, August 30, 2008 - Sad news to pass on...

Dear Friends,
Malcolm McClure died today after a long and courageous battle against cancer. Erica has arranged for burial in his family plot in California and plans a memorial service here in Illinois at a later date.