Back in the 1970s and ’80s, many of us read movie reviews in the Illinois Times by Rich Shereikis. While others in Springfield knew him as their professor of English and a charter faculty member of Sangamon State University, I am sorry to say I only knew him from his IT byline.
So when Rich died recently at 76, IT ran a full-page article, which helped me get in touch with his daughter Rebecca, who grew up in Springfield. http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/article-11238-the-right-combination-of-sensibilities.html

Rebecca holds a Ph.D. in African history from Northwestern University, my own alma mater, and works as an administrator for NU’s Program of African Studies. She sent me the obit below, written by her mother, Judith, which will appear in the May 9 issue of the Washington Island Observer:

Rich Shereikis grew up in the Marquette Park neighborhood of Chicago, the only child of Lithuanian immigrants. His father John had left his war-torn country at age 18 to find work in a South Side factory; his mother Thelma had moved to the big city from a small town in southern Illinois, where her father was a coal miner. Little could they have imagined that this boy who grew up in a home almost devoid of books would become an avid reader, a gifted writer, and eventually a professor of English literature.

John and Thelma with son Rich

Rich was not just a bookish boy. He excelled in basketball and baseball, and was a varsity athlete for Harper High in the tough Chicago Public League. He pursued this love of athletics throughout his life, coaching track as a young high school teacher, pitching 16-inch softball in the summers, running marathons (including the Boston), and organizing inventive home Olympics for his children John, Michael and Rebecca. And when two “fake hips,” as he dubbed them, curtailed these activities, he took up long-distance biking.

His love of reading led him to a degree in English at Northern Illinois U. and to his first teaching job in a high school in the south suburbs of Chicago, where he met his wife Judy. During the summers, while working construction jobs, he completed coursework for his M.A. in English at the U. of Chicago.

After earning his Ph.D. in English in 1965 at the University of Colorado at Boulder and teaching three years at University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, in 1971, Rich was enticed to Springfield to become a charter faculty member at Sangamon State, where he stayed for 25 years. He was a dedicated teacher, with equally high standards for his students. His courses ranged from 19th century English literature (his beloved Dickens and Hardy) and Midwestern literature, to the short story, and sports in the American Culture. He also mentored aspiring high school teachers.

For twenty years he was movie and book reviewer, columnist, feature writer, and entertainment editor for Illinois Times, as well as the books and humanities editor and writer for Illinois Issues. Meanwhile, he also published in scholarly journals and wrote essays and reviews for the Chicago Reader, Mother Jones, and the Columbia Journalism Review that were picked up by papers from Boston to Malibu.

After he retired as Professor Emeritus from the University of Illinois, Springfield, in 1995, Rich and Judy moved to Evanston. In 1996, they bought a summer home on Washington Island, where Rich spent the last (and particularly lovely) autumn of his life (2012) before being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

A dear friend aptly eulogized Rich as “a man with a fierce intolerance of injustice and pretense, a deep appreciation for immigrant cultures arising from his Lithuanian heritage, a lifelong devotion to sports, an omnivorous love of literature and film, and an intense commitment to his family. Those of us who cherished him as a social critic, and sometime curmudgeon delighted to see the tender and doting grandfather he became. We will miss not only his blunt honesty but his deep generosity and humor.”

Rich is survived by his wife and children, as well as grandchildren Nicholas, Rachel, and Anya, to whom we offer our fond memories and deep admiration for a full and passionate life so well-lived.

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.