Joan Naumovich

Third-generation Lithuanian-American Joan M. Naumovich is Patient Advocate/ Director of Patient Relations at St. John’s Hospital. She began her medical career in high school as a volunteer or “candy striper” before earning her R.N. and then serving many years as a bedside nurse, always at St. John’s.

Joan says she gets a lot of satisfaction from her “healthcare ministry” helping patients navigate an increasingly complex medical system, which often involves a daunting number of specialists and a dizzying array of high-tech tests and treatments.

The third of 10 children born to Leonard and Jean Naumovich, Joan says her grandmother Josephine Deresker Naumovich immigrated from Lithuania in the early 1900s. And, like so many of us, Joan faced surname mutilation by teachers all through school at St. Aloysius, Ursuline Academy, then St. Louis University, where she earned her B.S. in nursing. She laughs: “It is amazing how many ways there are to put the 9 letters in Naumovich together to create a variety of sounds.”

Joan’s two daughters, Katie and Missy Dodd, come from a double-Lithuanian background. Their paternal great-grandmother was Springfield-area Lithuanian Marcella Yuscius. Joan has a fond memory of Grandma Yuscius assessing Katie as an infant in diapers and pronouncing Lithuanian words that sounded like “subikis paklis,” which she translated into English as, “butt like a stove.”

Did that make you laugh out loud, like it did me? Do any readers recognize that phrase—or can you correct it for us if it’s a bit off? (Sounds like a keeper for some of life’s special occasions.)

It seems only natural, after speaking of butts, to transition to the subject of Lithuanian food. Joan remembers going as a child with her dad to a local grocer to buy the ethnic cheese called suris, sometimes with seeds and sometimes without. She liked the creamy, rich texture and recalls her dad eating only that for his lunch, especially during Lent.

Do any of our readers remember—or eat suris? And, if you eat too much, will somebody mumble in Lithuanian that you have “a butt like cheese?” And, if they did, how would you know? (I must be channeling Joan’s humorist brother Dan here.)

An annual Christmas favorite for Joan’s daughter Missy to this day is kugelis, a grated potato-bacon-onion casserole topped with sour cream that grandmother Dodd makes. Both sides of Joan’s extended Lithuanian family love Kielbasa and serve it as a side dish every Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

suris: Lithuanian curd cheese

Rick Dunham, proudly 1/4th Lithuanian on his mother’s side, is a long-time Lithuanian-American Club member who has entertained at Club functions and professional gigs like the Illinois State Fair for 28 years as his singing alter-ego, “Elvis Himselvis.” He has also competed in many professional Elvis tributes, like the annual Midwest Tribute to the King in Springfield.

In fact, Rick has performed professionally as Elvis in 33 states, Canada and Europe (including on Lithuanian television).

Rick and his “retinue” in a publicity shot

He has also acted in 77 productions over the past 33 years, locally at the Springfield Muni Opera, Springfield Theatre Center, and Theatre in the Park. For the past eight years, he has worked a job he loves as one of the cast of professional actors at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. His most recent role at the Museum was as Stephen Douglas in “The Heavens are Hung in Black.”

Rick is the great-grandson of Michael and Margaret (Liutkus) Banzin, who came to the U.S. in 1902 and 1907, respectively, and were married in Riverton, IL. He probably holds our local American-born record for lifetime visits back to Lithuania at eight trips, so far. And, he hopes that he and Lithuania have not seen the last of each other.

Rick grew up in rural Dawson, spending a lot of time with his Grandma Helen (Banzin) Gestautas, who spoke Lithuanian. Helen’s second husband, Lithuanian World War II DP (displaced person) Paul Gestautas, Rick’s step-grandfather, also was a major childhood influence who told countless stories of Lithuania and took Rick on his first trip there in 1978.

Rick’s mother, Mary Ann (Dodd) Dunham (now Homer), of Dawson, also is a long-time Club member. Since Rick says his father Donald Dunham of Buffalo “was singing before I was born,” it’s no surprise that Rick began singing at age 7, and his dad was his first accompanist. Brother Randy Dunham is also a musical theatre actor. Other siblings include: brother Rodney Dunham, half-brother Andrew Dunham and step-sister Shauna (Bryant) Moore. (Nieces Chloe and Darby will also be remembered by long-time Club members.)

After graduating from Tri-City High School, Rick attended Lincoln Land Community College and Millikin University in Decatur, where he earned a BFA Music-Theatre.

The following have been his favorite acting roles over the years (he likes comedy and musical comedy the best): Psedolus in “A Funny thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” Nicely-nicely in “Guys & Dolls,” Charlie Baker in “The Foreigner,” Sam Byck in “Assassins,” Adam in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” and when he was younger, Puck in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” W.A. Mozart in ‘Amadeus,” The Baker in “Into the Woods,” and Anthony in “Sweeney Todd.”

“I have always been a huge Stephen Sondheim fan,” Rick says.

Matt Buedel, who grew up in Springfield the son of Regina (Abramikas) Buedel and grandson of Lithuanian immigrants Walter and Stephanie Abramikas, is a police beat reporter for the Journal Star newspaper in Peoria, Ill. He has worked at the Journal-Star for 13 years. Lately, he observes, “I’ve ended up reporting almost as much about the local police as about criminals.” The rest of this blog profile is Matt, the professional (and professionally sardonic) writer, in his own words. Enjoy!

When he was 16, Matt’s parents slapped a license plate on his car that read “BUEDEL 4” so that other drivers in Springfield could notify them when he did something dumb. The strategy never worked, but the license plate stuck around for about 18 years.

Alas, Matt’s lovely wife, Clare, fearing for her husband’s safety after he authored some particularly pointed newspaper stories, recently convinced him to abandon his vanity plate. Hence, he will drive in relative anonymity to the annual meeting of the Peoria Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union later this month, where he will receive an award for his police reporting.

License plate cajoling aside, Matt lives a life of domestic bliss. He and Clare are about to celebrate their first anniversary (a number skewed by years of procrastination in engagement). Clare was smart enough to escape journalism (unlike Matt, who holds a journalism degree from Bradley University) and return to school for another degree. She now works at a Peoria ad agency, where people have more fun.

Their daughter, Felicity, is 9 years old (and won her first argument with her father more than five years ago). Felicity claims she will never drive a car and will attend Bradley University, as much for family tradition as convenience: The campus is just down the street from their house in Peoria’s oldest neighborhood.

Besides marital bliss, Matt has two other luxuries in his life. He takes an unusual amount of solace in pointing cameras at things and pressing buttons. He once mistook this as a professional calling, but after a healthy dose of commercial work, decided not to send photography down the path his poetry once took: to a full-time job.

That he no longer writes for himself, however, is not a problem because of his second luxury, which can prove elusive depending on the day: Each morning, Matt leaves his house in search of the truth.

For the record, let me add that Matt attended St. Agnes Grade School and Sacred Heart Griffin High School. Also, after reading the above, Matt’s mom, Regina, notes that in addition to writing about the disappearance of a man with Alzheimer’s, Matt actually joined in the search and found the man’s body before search and rescue. The grateful family, about whom Matt had written so sensitively, mentioned Matt’s name in the victim’s obituary. And, both Matt and the victim’s son, Scott Garrett, subsequently became certified members of the Peoria County Search and Rescue Squad. Be sure to read all the comments at the end of the article at this link:
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1134100794/Peoria-Co-man-found-dead-one-week-after-being-declared-missing

Here’s another recent story by Matt, coincidentally involving a Lithuanian woman:
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1522333897/Another-woman-might-have-led-to-Valentines-Day-slaying

Margaret and fellow staffer at the Decaturian newspaper

Margaret Eby, a resident of Springfield, was recently named to the dean’s list as a senior English major at Millikin University in Decatur. She is the great-granddaughter of Lithuanian immigrant John Matekaitis. Her great-grandmother also was a Lithuanian immigrant who entered the U.S. through the port of Baltimore in the early years of the 20th Century.

Margaret’s parents are Susan and the Rev. Joseph Eby of Springfield. (Joe is the pastor at Chatham Presbyterian Church, and Susan is a member of the Greater Springfield Interfaith Association.)

I’ve never met Margaret, although I met Sue and Joe at the June 2012 picnic of the Lithuanian-American Club, as well as at a couple of Slow Food Springfield events.

Margaret appeared in a March column of the State Journal-Register. According to the SJ-R, she is co-founder, arts editor and writer for Re:Decatur, an online community newspaper for Macon County. Margaret is also arts editor and columnist for the Decaturian newspaper. You can read two of her recent columns here:

Seth Meyers makes us laugh, cry and pee our pants

Millikin catches glimpse of Appalachian and American history

Update: A graduate of Rochester High School, Margaret graduated from Millikin University in May 2013 and is now a junior account executive with DCC Marketing in Decatur.