News Of Neighbors — May 2020

Original printed byline: Rachel Boxdorfer

Summer 2020

Historical Summer 2020 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.

Hello Skinker DeBaliviere neighbors.

I hope this finds you doing well in what undoubtedly has become a very strange year.

As we continue to all tip toe through the days of a pandemic, we still have a lot of news to report on our neighbors. Because even in the world of Covid19, life moves on. And while it does, I hope that you are finding some peace at home, getting to know your neighbors more (at a safe distance) and enjoying life at a distance. Whether it’s birthday parades, diploma deliveries or just neighbors walking, I know I have found myself even more grateful to be part of this wonderful community we call home. Before we begin, I want to acknowledge and thank all of our neighbors who are front line workers.

We are so grateful to all of you. Whether you work in health care, public transportation, or some other essential business, thank you!

We will all get through this by doing our part, caring, and checking in on our neighbors.

Now let’s get started with the news of a new baby! Mike and Megan Dahl became the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl Nora Jolene on April 11th. Mike grew up on the 6100 block of McPherson. Proud grandma Ellen Leathers still resides on McPherson. Warren Rosenblum, resident of the 6100 block of Kingsbury and professor of history at Webster University, was awarded a Fulbright grant to Belgium for research and teaching in Spring 2021. Warren’s project, “Between Sympathy and Persecution: The ‘Feeble-Minded’ in Modern Europe,” explores the history of developmental disability in Germany, France, and the Low Countries from the beginnings of mass confinement to the period of mass murder under the Nazis.

While researching in Belgian archives and libraries, Warren will also be a guest professor at the Catholic University Leuven. And another Fulbright winner has ties to the 6100 block of Kingsbury this year. Interdisciplinary science and media artist Lucy HG Solomon, received the award for a project titled “A PanMicrobiological Portrait of the Arctic, the Andes and the Amazon.” Lucy grew up on the block and is the daughter of Margaret Hermes. Lucy works in the hybrid world of art, science, and technology, making art that examines the relationship between ecosystems and societal systems.

She resides in Southern California with her husband and two daughters.

They have planned to spend time in Norway, Peru, and Brazil for her Fulbright. Congratulations to David Garin (6100 block of Westminster), Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, who was presented with UMSL’s first ever Faculty Retiree of the Year Award.

The award is given in recognition of contributions made to the community since retiring from the university. Dr. Priscilla A. DowdenWhite and her daughter Dora Taylor were featured in the St. Louis PostDispatch Mother Daughter Look Alike contest. Dr. Dowden-White, an associate professor of history at UM St. Louis was also interviewed on St. Louis on the Air last October about her use of a James Baldwin novel and how it resonates across campus and the broader St. Louis community, decades after it was written.

The conversation also included the perspectives of several UMSL students and faculty members. Long-time resident and photographer for the Times, King Schoenfeld, 6100 block Westminster, has published a monograph featuring the photography of his father, Irv Schoenfeld, of Milwaukee, WI. King touches on the history of photography, the Ansco Memo camera, his father’s early years, the Depression years in Milwaukee and Greendale, as well as a sampling of artistic images made by the senior Schoenfeld.

The book is titled One Man’s Camera: The Original Ansco Memo & the Photography of Irv Schoenfeld, available from lulu.com. King and Dee Schoenfeld, both retired, raised their two sons here. Jeremy is now an architect in Seattle and Jeff is a struggling actor in Madrid where he is an on-line ESL teacher. Their parents are thankful that both remain well in spite of living in corona virus hot spots.

After being furloughed and laid off during their lockdown in London, Anne Leathers (who grew up on the 6100 block of McPherson) and her friend, architect and designer Stefanie Sebald, decided to focus on the basics individuals need most: community, shelter, and most importantly food.

They formed All Together International; working with Nike Design Director Anthony Coleman and Creative Director Balwant Ahira, they designed the All Together T-Shirt.

The purchase of each t-shirt feeds 20 individuals most affected by Covid-19. 100% of profits for each shirt purchased go in equal parts to their three partners in the UK and the US.

They have partnered with three nonprofits, The Felix Project, Meals on Wheels America, and Under One Sky. You can purchase a t-shirt through this link https://www.alltogether.international/. Anne is the daughter of Ellen Leathers (our new grandmother mentioned earlier).

With the onset of the pandemic, normal life as we knew it, no longer exists. For seniors in high school and college, that has meant that so many of the special events they would have been enjoying this spring were missed; none bigger probably, than their graduations. So now we want to be sure to honor some of our neighborhood graduates for all they have accomplished.

We know they have great adventures in their future and being a part of the class of 2020 will be a strange footnote in their incredible lives. Congratulations to all of our graduates!

We are so proud and excited for you and for your families and wish you the best! Brandon Burton received a Masters of Fine Arts from The Yale School of Drama. Brandon is the son Kenneth and Patricia of the 6100 block of Kingsbury. Jessica Ryan graduated from McGill University in Montreal and is pursuing opportunities in the environment, communications and social entrepreneurship fields. Jessica is the daughter of Jeff and Jamie Ryan of the 6000 block of McPherson. Danny Grady, youngest son of Jim and Mary Alice Grady of the 6200 block of Parkview, graduated from Saint Louis University High School (SLUH) and is moving on to Marquette University in the fall. Sam Mulcahy, son of Andy and Molly Mulcahy, of the 6100 block of McPherson, also graduated from SLUH.

He will be studying engineering at the University of MissouriColumbia. Clara Barton is graduating from Visitation Academy and will be attending Loyola University Chicago in the Fall.

She was accepted into the Honors College and will be majoring in Environmental Science and Sustainability. Clara’s proud parents are Jon and Jennifer Barton of Parkview. Jamie Hogan is heading to Loyola New Orleans where he received the presidential scholarship and the crescent city scholarship to study Urban and Electronic Music Production. Jamie graduated from CBC and is the son of Joe and Beth Hogan of the 6100 block of Kingsbury. Back on the 6100 block of Kingsbury, Brendan McGroarty graduated from SLUH and is headed to Denver to continue the family tradition of a Jesuit education at Regis University. Brendan is the second son of Sean and Cristina McGroarty.

Rachel Solverud graduated from Nerinx Hall High School and is going to be entering the Honors College at Mizzou studying biomedical engineering.

Her big brother Alec graduated from Mizzou with an Industrial Engineering Degree and will be working at Grimco as a supply chain engineer. Erik and Sarah Solverud of Parkview are incredibly proud parents! Jamie and Theresa Kenyon of the 5900 block of DeGiverville proudly announced their son Alex Kenyon graduated from St. Mary’s High School and will be attending Indiana State in the fall. Aminell K. Gill graduated from Nerinx and will be traveling to study at American University in Paris in the fall. Aminell is the oldest daughter of Amy and Amrit Gill of the 6200 block of Waterman. Ann and Mike Stephens, also of the 6200 block of Waterman had two graduates in their family this year too. Meta Stephens graduated from Nerinx Hall and is headed to Fordham University to study political science. Meta’s big brother Truman just graduated from Fordham with a degree in international political economy and is headed to the London School of Economics. Maris Ebeling graduated from the University of Dayton and will be starting grad school at Mizzou this summer in physical therapy. Maris is the daughter of Rachel and Sean Ebeling of the 6300 block of Waterman. Madison Fuller graduated from Crossroads and is off to Mizzou in the fall to study political science/pre-law. Madison is the daughter of Gerri Fuller and Andrea Watts of the 6100 block of Waterman. Bronte Chenaille Segura received a BA in Japanese Language and Literature as well as Gender Queer Studies from The University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. Bronte is the daughter of Michael and Jacqui Segura of the 6100 block of McPherson. And many of our neighbors have children attending St. Roch grade school so we are going to give a big shout out to the St. Roch Class of 2020. Their year did not end as planned and unfortunately Corona ale meant the end of their plans to take a Civil Rights trip to Memphis.

The students are off to many high schools in the St. Louis area and we look forward to hearing about their accomplishments. Have I missed your graduate?

Please send me the information as we want to celebrate all of our graduates, especially this year. Do you have news to share?

Please send your submissions via email with the subject line News of Neighbors to rachelb@sdtimes.org or drop off a note to the attention of Rachel Boxdorfer at the Skinker DeBaliviere office. Be sure to mark it “News of Neighbors”.

We love to hear about neighbors’ accomplishments, awards, travels, weddings, anniversaries, births, and more!