Mission Statement
The Renaissance Academy at Chicago NFP,
located at Saint Xavier University, was created
for those individuals of the community, retired
and semi-retired, who have the desire to learn
simply for the joy and excitement of learning.
Its primary purpose is to provide forums for
participatory group study on topics decided on
by the membership. The focus is on member
participation and peer teaching. Aims include
intellectual stimulation, cultural enrichment, and
fellowship.
Fall 2015
Officers & Board
2015-2016
President
Vice-President
Secretary
Treasurer
Consultants
Mary Lou Lovell
Mike Fish
Grace Ann Kartheiser
Mike Fish
Donatta Yates
Mark Kinsella
Julie Davis
SXU Liaison
Committees
Care
Therese Burns*
Judy Sandburg
Curriculum
Dan Byrne*
Mary Johnson
Farrell Forum
Kay Heafey*
Historian
Pat Collins
Membership
Mary Anne Gaynor
Marilyn Klein
Newsletter
Peggy Dosch*
Peg Paliakas
Office Management
Patricia Clair
Marcia Janas
Special Events
Virginia Carberry
Phyllis Sheahan*
Bridget Ford
Maureen Connolly
Peg Walsh
Pete Jonikaitis
Pat Kelso
Maureen McInerney
Barbara Gyarmathy
Pat Huizenga
Anne Steele*
Marilyn O’Brien
Mary Wersells
*Committee Chairperson
President’s Corner
Welcome to the Renaissance Academy at
Chicago NFP 2015-2016 school year. The
name is a little different but Renaissance
Academy at Chicago NFP is the description of
our new relationship with SXU. We are now an
independent Not For Profit organization located
at St. Xavier University. We are now able to
manage our own affairs as well as carry our own
liability insurance.
We still have a
Memorandum of Understanding with the
University which allows us to use classrooms,
the Butler Room, our office, the services of the
Media Center and various other services. We
will have classes Fall, Winter and Spring as well
as Farrell Forum and off campus events.
Once again the Curriculum Committee has
scheduled new and interesting classes and the
Membership Committee has organized the Fall
class registration. Thank you to all for your
hard work for another successful start to a new
year.
All that being said, our new year begins on
an upbeat note knowing our programs and
activities will continue as successfully as they
have in the past. Happy and enjoyable new
year.
Mary Lou Lovell
Four Courses need to
be filled for upcoming Winter Term. Please
consider facilitating; all sorts of materials
available. Please contact dan.byrne@att.net to
discuss and/or schedule your class by October
1st. You’ll be a great facilitator! All will help
you out, come on board!
Farrell Forum
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Butler Reception Room, 11:30 a.m.
The Farrell Forum will present "Coming
to America--Ellis Island.” Over half of the
population presently living in the United States
has ancestors who came to America through
Ellis Island. The island's facility could process
4,000 people a day, but the procedure was at
times more arduous than the trip itself.
Accent on History created this informative
program featuring the story of one woman who
apprehensively left her homeland for a new life
in a new country. She traveled in a cramped
ship, amid the stench of unwashed bodies and
the odor of seasickness. Upon arrival at Ellis
Island she found iron-pipe waiting pens, hard
wooden benches, rude and dishonest officials.
She is one of the nameless women who without
a husband to lean on had the courage to change
her life.
A combination of dramatic narrative and
actual description of Ellis Island, the event
includes some paper artifacts and a printed
timeline for each audience member. This
program is presented by Janet Gilleland, who
has been working in theater since her teens.
Accent on History was born when a museum
asked Janet to create several history-related
dramas.
The Farrell Forum is a speakers’ series
established in honor of the late John Farrell, a
CIA analyst in the 1970s and Renaissance
Academy facilitator in the early 1990s. This
program is free and open to the public; light
refreshments will be served.
Fall 2015
Renaissance Calendar
Tuesday, September 29, Fall Terms Begins
Tuesday, October 6, Cougar Den
11:30 a.m. - Board Meeting
Tuesday, October 13, Butler Room
11:30 a.m. - Farrell Forum
Thursday, October 15, Cougar Den
12:30 p.m. – Facilitators’ Meeting
Wednesday, October 21
11:00 a.m. - Book Club, Oak Lawn Library
Tuesday, October 27
4:30 p.m. - TGITT
Tuesday, November 10, Cougar Den
10:30 a.m. – Executive Board Meeting
11:30 p.m. - Board Meeting
Tuesday, November 19 – Fall Term Ends
Fall Book Club
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Oak Lawn Library, 11:00 a.m.
9427 S. Raymond, Oak Lawn
Judy Sandberg - Facilitator
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating
Author Elisabeth Tova Bailey
In this book the author describes her
observations of an individual land snail of the
species Neohelix albolabris which lived in
a terrarium next to her while she was confined
to bed through illness.
N.B. Judy has arranged for the Oak Lawn
Library to have twenty copies of the book
available for check out about two weeks prior to
the discussion.
Tuesday, December 8, Orland Chateau
14500 S. La Grange Rd., Orland Park
11:00 a.m. - Board Meeting
12:00 p.m. – Christmas Luncheon
Dear Renaissance Friends,
January 5, 2016 Winter Term Begins
If you are a “snow bird” and plan to be away
four weeks or more during the winter term,
please do not register for classes as you may be
taking a spot that someone in town could utilize.
Thank you! If you return early, check with
Facilitator to see if there is room for you.
I just want to acknowledge all the
Renaissance members who so kindly sent cards,
wishes and prayers for my recovery from my
recent back problem. Your thoughtfulness
certainly seemed to speed up the process. I am
doing well and looking forward to the new
Renaissance year. Thanks again for all your
kindness. See you in September.
Maura Smith
Renaissance Person To Know
By Barbara Gyarmathy
We are fortunate to have Phyllis Sheahan as
the new Chairperson of the Special Events
Committee that provides
opportunities to
broaden our knowledge and to connect with
fellow members in educational and social
settings. Charter RA member Gerri Barrett,
who recently passed away, had macular
degeneration and Phyllis began driving her to
classes and thus began their close friendship
and Phyllis’ association with RA. Phyllis admits
she considers herself to be a “political junkie”
and the Ken Burns series on the Roosevelts was
“just her thing.” She will facilitate a class this
Fall based on the series.
Phyllis was raised an only child by a single
working mother. This is no easy task and she
always had highest regard, respect and love for
her mother. She attended St. Sabina and The
Academy of Our Lady. She continued at Mt.
Mary College near Milwaukee and finished in 3
1/2 years so she could marry her fiancé, John
Coghlan, while he was home on leave.
From 1953 to 1972 she was busy bearing and
caring for four boys and four girls. By the time
her youngest was in kindergarten Phyllis had
obtained her real estate license and began to
sell homes in Palos Park. In 1976 she entered
Northern Law School and passed the bar exam
three years later. She worked in her exhusband's law firm and then went to the Cook
County Assessor’s Legal Department to work
for Tom Hynes whom she proclaims the best
boss in the world.
In 1982, Phyllis married Tom Sheahan, a
widower with five sons. Five of Phyllis's
children were already married, so the
combined family then had eight sons in high
school and college. When Tom retired from the
CFD, they built a log cabin in Morris and moved
to the country. Phyllis commuted for 5 years
and then retired. In Morris she worked part-
time for Grundy County Board of Appeals until
2007. Tom died in 2006 and two years later she
moved back to Palos Park to be closer to her
children.
Phyllis is a “doer” and is highly engaged in
her volunteer activities.
She represented
Grundy County for 16 years on the Northern
Illinois Area Agency on Aging which works in
conjunction with state and federal agencies to
provide Meals on Wheels. Even after moving
back to Palos she returned to Morris once a
week to work on the hospital bus which
provides free transportation for seniors to
medical facilities.
Sewing, especially computer embroidery, is
a passion for her and many creations are
donated to charity silent auctions. Phyllis has
traveled to Ireland, France, England, Germany,
Switzerland, Korea and Spain. Her bucket list
still includes Scotland and the Nordic countries,
but she accepts the fact that her travels are
over.
Phyllis is a great example of a life well lived.
She has set a marvelous example and kept
things simple by following the Golden Rule and
adhering to her mother’s adages “Sugar is
better than vinegar”, “Treasure your friends”,
“Have an open door and an open heart” and
“Don’t give up.”
Phyllis says her greatest source of pride has
been “to raise 12 wonderful children with huge
hearts who have given me 36 grands and 7
greats so far. They are good people and great
parents which makes me proud. Unfortunately,
I lost one son at 20, but there are still people
who remember him with love 31 years later.”
Turkey--2015
A brief report after visit by Renaissance
Academy member this past summer.…
part of government revenues costs $9.50 a
gallon vs. $3.25 in the U.S.
The office of President is mostly ceremonial.
Before the June elections, the President's party
held 49% of the assembly's seats but failed to
secure 50% in order to reform the office and
make it more powerful like the American
presidency. Instead they won only 40% of the
seats and had to form a coalition government
with other political parties. Although Turkey
remains male-dominated, the recent election of
a substantial number of women to the National
Assembly signals that things are changing.
Turkey has always been a crossroad between
Europe and Asia and remains so today. It is a
modern, secular state with 80 million people, a
remnant of the multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire
that ruled Europe and the Middle East for
hundreds of years until its defeat in World War
I. The country is strategically located between
the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Istanbul, its
major city, has about 15 million people and was
the seat of the Roman/Byzantine Empire when
Constantine the Great made Christianity the
state religion about 300 A.D. The city was
conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
Turkey is a secular state rather than a
religious state like Iraq, Syria, or Iran. The
literacy rate is 97% and it has an informed
electorate as opposed to many of its
neighboring countries. Voting is mandatory and
administered through the school system.
Military service is also mandatory and Turkey
has the largest standing army in Europe. If one
does not discharge his military duty, he may
not be able to marry or advance in his career.
Most Turks prefer tea to coffee and people
walk everywhere. Gas, which is a significant
Turkey, Anatolia, and Asia Minor were the
places where St. Paul converted many Gentiles
to Christianity. The Christians were severely
punished before Constantine's rule. Caves that
were used for Christian services and as a refuge
from persecution are found all over Asia Minor.
Turkey is a place of history, current events
and future happenings. I hope you learned a
little more about Turkey and the Middle East
through my travel reflection.
Dan Lynch
The Blue Mosque in Istanbul
Around Town
Beverly Arts Center
beverlyartcenter.org
(773) 445-3838
Dorothy Menker Theater Continued
Saturday, October 17, 7:30 p.m.
Mariachi Divas
Author Afternoons
Sunday, October 18, 2:00-4:00 p.m.
Broken Grace by E.C. Diskin
Sunday, December 13, 7:30 p.m.
An Irish Christmas (sold out-call for wait list)
Sunday, November 15, 2:00-4:00 p.m.
Old Heart by Peter Perry
Saturday, December 19, 7:30 p.m.
Tidings of Tap--Chicago Tap Theater
Main Stage
Friday, October 2, 8:00 p.m.
The Young Dubliners
Saturday, October 3, 8:00 p.m.
Head for the Hills--Railway Gamblers
Saturday, October 10, 7:30 p.m.
I AM IRELAND with Paddy Homan
Friday, October 16, 8:00 p.m.
the trippin billies--Dave Matthews Tribute Band
Saturday, October 25, 8:00 p.m.
Halloweensteen--The Duke Street Kings
featuring Michael Mc Dermott
Saturday, November 14, 8:00 p.m.
An Evening with M&R Rush
Southwest Symphony
southwestsymphony .com
(708) 802-0686
Sounds of the Season
Sunday, December 6, 4:00 p.m.
St. Stephen Church, Tinley Park
Dear
Friends
in
Renaissance:
Over the course of many days, I received
a plethora of birthday cards from our
membership. Some were from people I know
well, others were challenging because I know
many of you by face rather than name and
face. Finally some came from the broader
group; those who don't know me but sent cards
anyway. This was quite an experience. My
mail carrier thinks I'm a celebrity, ringing my
bell to deliver me ten plus cards per day. I
confessed that wasn't so. I'm just fortunate to be
involved with a group of intelligent and
thoughtful men and women who buy into
Renaissance Academy values relating to
fellowship.
Donatta Yates
Friday, December 11, 7:30 p.m.
St. Damian Church, Oak Forest
Dorothy Menker Theater
MoraineValley.edu
(708) 974-5500
Saturday, October 3, 7:30 p.m.
The Wonder Bread Years starring Pat Hazell
Attention Facilitators!
New phone number for SXU Media Services is
773-298-4357, Press 1