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Spring 2021 Newsletter
President’s Corner
Hello, it is hard to believe that we are in the spring session and
that we are almost done with the 2020-2021 school year. What a great year we had even though we couldn’t see each other in person. I have heard from many of you that you really enjoyed the Zoom classes and were happy to “see” friends. Hopefully, after we all get our vaccines and Saint Xavier opens up, we will be able to go back to in person classes.
I can’t emphasize enough that in order to keep the Renaissance program viable, we need members to volunteer as facilitators, board members or committee members. Please consider volunteering. Thank you for making this year a fun and rewarding experience.
Eileen Holderbaum
We are pleased to welcome New Members to Renaissance Academy this spring term
Dr. Paula Hodkowski Ms. Katharine F. Meyer
Ms. Kathryn Mikel
Between 50 and 60 members have contributed a voluntary $25 donation to RA and all are very much appreciated. Some even contributed more than $25! Any future voluntary o�erings are encouraged so that the Renaissance Academy at Saint Xavier University will continue to be a viable, vibrant Senior resource. Contributions may be mailed to
the Renaissance O�ce at Saint Xavier University, 3700 W. 103 St. Chicago, IL 60655, Room L214.
● SAVE THE LINK! Remember to keep the email Zoom invitation for each class you are taking - it will remain the same for the entire term and will not be resent. You must use this same link each week to enter your Zoom class. Some find it helpful to copy and paste into their calendar.
● If you can’t get into a Zoom meeting, close your Zoom app and
any open windows on your computer. Then click the link you received via email again. Email the facilitator if you still can’t get into the class.
● Remember to check your email for any communications from
Renaissance Academy. A notice will be sent if there is an update or change to any class, for example, if the facilitator needs to cancel for any reason.
O�cers and Committee Members Needed! Looking Ahead:
2021-2022 Board
Look at the last page of the Newsletter which shows those proposed for next academic year’s board and committees. The new board will be elected during the Spring term and those listed have agreed to stay on for 2021 - 2022. Please note that we are in immediate need of O�ce Managers . Won’t you please consider volunteering for one of these important services? We all benefit
from their leadership and planning. New members with fresh ideas keep Renaissance vibrant. Are you hesitant to facilitate a class? Here is a great way to help “behind the scenes” rather than being on stage! If interested, please contact Mary Hendry, call or text her cell (312) 213-3360 or email her at [email protected]
New Legislation A�ecting Seniors Renaissance Member, JoAnn Gruca, RN has alerted us:
New federal legislation went into e�ect on April 5, 2021, as part of the 21st Century Cures Act: Open Notes . Physicians and other health care providers are now required to share their notes with patients after a medical care visit. It is vitally important for us to take a proactive role in our health. One way to do that is by seriously considering the clinical notes we will be receiving after an interaction with our health care provider. This is yet another reason to become COMPUTER LITERATE because, ordinarily, patient notes will be made available on our “patient portal.” The legislation mandates that notes on consultation, history, physicals, imaging, lab and pathology reports, procedures and progress be shared with the patient. Here is a link for more information:
https://www.opennotes.org/opennotes-for-patients/
A Renaissance Person You Should Know Dan Lynch
By Melaine Herbert
RA member Dan Lynch has
achieved much in his lifetime, but can boast of one accomplishment that few, if any, other RA members can. In his early sixties, Dan biked from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic, not only once, but twice! Retired from work, he trained for the trip and joined a group that sponsored the ride. He says biking through Montana proved the biggest challenge because of the sparse population, mountainous terrain and having to bicycle, in part, on Interstate 80 because there was no other route. After a 75 mile day, sleeping on church floors was normal.
Dan was born into the Lynch family, the fourth of five children. His dad was a Chicago Fire Department chief, his mother a homemaker. “Rumor has it that Mother would put me on the front porch in mild weather so neighbors could see what a cute baby I was!” He grew up on Chicago’s South Side, 69th and Yale primarily. He attended St. Carthage and St. Basil Grammar Schools, St. Ignatius High School and Roosevelt University. He earned a degree in business.
Over the years he has lived all over Chicago, including Downtown, Lincoln Park and of course, the South Side. His career in the business world included working in accounting, sales, sales management, general management, quality and safety. One firm he was with for many years was Mi-Jack Products which made large cranes for lifting huge shipping boxes onto ships, trucks, and rail cars and has evolved into a multi-corporation, known as Lanco.
Having served in Germany and France with the U S Army Intelligence Branch, Dan took his discharge while in Europe and rode around for 2 - 3 months on his Peugeot motorcycle. Other travels included a bicycle trip in New Zealand, a trip to Mexico for Spanish immersion and mission trips to Central America. He went to the Holy Land and Medjugorje with his wife Maureen.
For the past eighteen years, extensive volunteering has taken much of his time, including serving at homeless shelters, English tutoring, spiritual care, visiting socially isolated seniors with the Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly, and especially hospice work for about 15 of those years. He is a Third Order Lay Carmelite and spent a year living with an Augustinian group in Hyde Park while volunteering at a homeless shelter in Marquette Park.
In 2008, Dan joined Renaissance Academy; he served as President from 2009 to 2011. He has been a facilitator for many courses including The Ottoman Empire, Great Decisions, Yugoslavia, Current Events, and Successful Aging. Interests he enjoys are guitar playing, tai chi, physical fitness and lately, harmonica.
Dan claims the two personal traits that have helped him in life the most are curiosity and perseverance. His advice to anyone just starting out in life is to choose a career involving something you can be passionate about! The best advice ever given to him was “be honest with yourself.”
He would like to have met Franklin Delano Roosevelt because Roosevelt was instrumental in leading our country out of both a great depression and a war, and because he graduated from Roosevelt University! He would also like to have met his uncle Dan who died before Dan was born. The event in history he’d have liked to have witnessed would be the Siege of Vienna, because it marked the end of the Ottoman advance in Europe and resulted in a di�erent Europe.
Dan met his wife when her car was stuck in a snowstorm and he helped her get it out. They’ve been married about 7 years. Dan has a son Christopher who works for the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, while Maureen has two sons, Joe and Brian, living in the Chicago area and a daughter Caryn who lives in LA.
The goal Dan has achieved of which he is most proud is successfully raising his son Chris. Two other goals he’s proud of include taking a kindergarten class’ stu�ed gecko on a 6-week bicycle trip while interacting with the class by email and in person and most recently, successfully hosting a Renaissance Zoom class! For the future, Dan’s goal is to be active, engaged and physically able to do all the things he wants to do as long as he is alive! Renaissance continues to be enriched by all the many life experiences Dan has shared since he is facilitating a class again this spring session!
Proposed 2021-2022 Officers President Eileen Holderbaum Vice-President Mary Hendry Secretary Sue Wrzesinski Treasurer Sue Wrzesinski
Mary P.Cavanaugh- thru June 2021
Information Systems Jim Condon Past President: Grace Ann Kartheiser Consultant Donatta Yates SXU Liaison Linda Moreno
Proposed
2021-2022 Committees Care Mary M. Doody*
Geraldine H. Cooney Judy Sandburg
Communication Maxine Byrnes* Katherine Sullivan
Communication Specialist Pat Flaherty Curriculum Dan Byrne*
Maureen Connolly Peg Walsh
Farrell Forum JoAnn Gruca* Pat Clair Therese Cunningham
Kay Heafey (advisor)
Mary Howley Historian Catherine Reardon Membership Sheila O’Sullivan*
Bobbie Murray Mary Anne Gaynor
Newsletter Peggy Dosch* Melaine Herbert Maureen O’Connor
Office Managers VACANT Special Events Sandra Stephens*
Kathleen Fassl Sharon Gerc Phyllis Sheahan
*Chairperson
Mission Statement
The Renaissance Academy at Chicago NFP 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.
30t� Annive�sar�
Renaissance Academy at Chicago NFP classes first met in the spring of 1991. Happy 30th Anniversary! It is still exciting to pursue topics new and old and we are thankful to Elenore Zayner for her vision which led to the existence of Renaissance. We are fortunate to still have a local university environment where people of like mind can meet together to study, to socialize and to engage in lifelong learning activities. Peer led courses and involvement of all members are essential to the continued experience. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it is possible in the fall to gather in person to celebrate.
