Monthly Lunch Gathering
Wednesday, June 25
10:30 – 1:00 Central
Please register by Sunday
Join us for lunch and conversation with great friends and neighbors! Registration is only required for the optional lunch.
Register Early for Less!
Please register by Sunday to take advantage of the "early bird" registration offer. Registrations after that date will incur an additional $3 fee.
Volunteer!
It takes a Village! Please sign up to volunteer at this and other events.
Pay What You Can
We strive to keep our activities as affordable as possible and honor a "pay what you can" rate for those who find the suggested fee to be a financial barrier to participation. To take advantage of the "pay what you can" offer, please register in advance and select to pay later during checkout. Then pay what you can at the door.
| | Hearing Loss Support Group
Monthly on 3rd Tuesday
Tuesday, June 17, 3–4:30
Augustana Lutheran Church
| | | | Memory Café
with AKARAMA & CHPV
Let's Celebrate Juneteenth!
Thursday, June 19, 11–12
Monthly on the 3rd Thursday
| | | | Dementia 101 with Dr. Jeannine Forrest
Thursday, June 26
4–5:30 via Zoom
Presented by the Chicago Area Village Collaborative Aging Brain & Body series | | | | Yoga with Janèe Powell
Mondays at 8am and Thursdays at 10am Central via Zoom
Canceled Thursday, June 19
| | | Remember, CHPV Members can visit chpv.org/exercise to access hours of recorded yoga and other fitness sessions. | |
JOAN HOBBS STAPLES
1930-2025
| | | Joan Hobbs Staples died peacefully at her home on May 20, 2025; she was 94. She was a long-time Hyde Parker, an activist who contributed to the First Unitarian Church, the Hyde Park Cooperative grocery store, Independent Voters of Illinois, the Antioch College Alumni group, OWL (the Older Women’s League), and the Chicago Hyde Park Village, to name several among many organizations in which she believed and supported actively.
Joan was born on Chicago’s north side in what is today known as Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, however she moved with her parents to Hyde Park in the mid-30s. After graduating from Kenwood Elementary and Hyde Park High School, she attended Antioch College in Ohio. She received a master’s degree in education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and embarked on a career as a teacher of young people with reading and learning disabilities.
Joan’s mother was brought up in an orthodox Jewish family; her father was not church- going. Joan and her family became members of the Society for Ethical Culture (now the Ethical Humanist Society). After classroom teaching for 6 years in Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills, she returned to Hyde Park in 1962 to live and to pursue a passion for individual tutoring, first in the Reading Clinic at the University of Chicago, and later, for many years in the Chicago Public Schools, often traveling (by bus) to different schools throughout the City.
She met her future husband, Chuck (Charles Gilbert Staples), in 1959 at a Fun Night at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club. They reconnected on a Youth Hostel trip in 1962 and were married in 1963 at First Unitarian Church.
Chuck and Joan traveled extensively throughout the country and the world, returning with slides and recipes to share. They both loved classical music of all kinds and made an effort to include in their travels diverse concerts and performances by ensembles that they supported generously; Joan sang with the First Unitarian choir for many years and was still taking voice lessons with Marty Swisher until shortly before she died. Joan and Chuck were both politically active, making house calls for the Independent Voters of Illinois and working on behalf of a wide variety of progressive local, state, and national candidates.
Joan was an ardent believer in the cooperative movement, and worked hard to keep the Hyde Park Cooperative Society grocery store open. It was a deep disappointment to her when it finally closed. She was an active member of the Hyde Park Chapter of OWL – the Older Women’s League, which provided education and advocacy on issues of special concern to women in midlife and older. She served as secretary for several years, submitting minutes in her meticulous handwritten printing. She spent many years supporting Chuck’s quest to save the Chicago Cultural Center building at Michigan and Randolph Streets.
Joan’s superpower was her deep empathy and caring for her family, friends, and students. With her quiet humility, she wielded her powerful capacities to listen carefully, counsel wisely those who turned to her for advice, and to support unstintingly the causes and institutions in which she believed deeply.
Chuck Staples died in 2022; Joan is survived by their nephews, Jeremy Busch [Geneva, NY], Edward (Kate) and Richard (Betsy) Staples [Barrington, RI]; Deborah Blagg [Ipswich, MA]; Mark Morrow (Kathleen) [Jamaica Plain, MA]; cousins Richard (Judy) Kaplan [Savoy, IL], Beverly Litka [Orlando, FL], Diane Nathan (Charles) [Tucson, AZ], Cary Feibleman (Kim Savage) [Berkeley, CA], Gilbert Feibleman (Ellen) [Salem, OR], Peter Feibleman (Leslie) [Newport Beach, CA], Robert Feibleman (Tonya) [Las Vegas, NV]; second cousin Stephanie Litka (Jason Bieber) [Kettering, OH]; “adopted daughter” Oona Hochberg (Marco) [Georgetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada], and their special friend, the musician Phillip Kloeckner, along with many admiring friends. Her devoted and expert caregivers— Kolapo Wooden, Jessica Valencia, Tapin Jindain, Salamatu Moro-Hussaine, and Nora Thoranin—became her cherished friends during the past four years.
A celebration of Joan’s life is planned for Saturday, June 28, 2025, at 11 a.m. at First Unitarian Church, 5650 S. Woodlawn Ave. A festive lunch will follow the service in Hull Chapel.
Contributions in celebration of Joan’s life may be made to First Unitarian Church of Chicago, 5650 S Woodlawn Ave., Chicago, IL 60637. https://firstuchicago.org/connect/give/
— By Margaret Huyck and Phillip Kloeckner | Elder Financial Abuse
Hyde Park Bank, 1525 E. 53rd Street
Tuesday, June 17, 10:30am
Free
Join an informative session on elder financial abuse led by a Hyde Park personal banker. Whether it be a family member, acquaintance, or caregiver, we need to ensure that our finances are safe from those looking to take advantage. We'll hear about common elder scams and how to avoid them. | HELP SUPPORT OUR MISSION! |
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