Obituary of Benedict Jurenas

Benedict Jurenas passed away on August 2, 2014, the day before his 95th birthday. Born in Chicago on August 3, 1919, Ben was in many ways a product of his time. He was part of the American epic of 20th Century immigration to the United States by immigrants from Eastern Europe seeking a better way of life on our shores. His life was shaped by this fact. His parents, Charles and Mary, separately came from Kaunas, Lithuania, escaping the poverty and oppression of Russian rule. Married in America they worked hard, learned enough of their newly -found language to survive in a sometimes hostile environment, and taught their children by example. Their success in small business would become a yardstick for Ben’s life. Growing up in Mount Greenwood, Illinois, a small community just to the south of Chicago and later to be absorbed into the bigger city, Dad was soon joined in the family by 2 brothers, Alphonse and John. Ben attended Mt. Greenwood Elementary School, studied diligently, and would often be found at the local public library, his nose buried in books. The library was a source of knowledge and inspiration to him, as well as the location for one of life’s first bitter lessons. Dad often would recount that growing up during the 1920’s and 30’s the family made do with what they could. Raising vegetable crops and breeding rabbits and pigs on the household lot to supplement their food supply was a common economizing practice among immigrant families. Similarly, when his maternal grandfather who also had immigrated and settled in Mt. Greenwood bought a bicycle for him – it was a used one. Working on the bike, his grandfather repaired and painted it, and it shined like a gem, as Dad recalled. Riding it over to the library one afternoon to return some books, he left it outside “just for a minute,” while he went in. Coming back outside the bicycle was gone. Someone had taken “the gem” and days of searching throughout the neighborhood by his grandfather and Dad never produced it. Ben was devastated and the family never replaced it – a luxury that the Great Depression would not permit. Graduating from Mt. Greenwood Grammar School in 1933, Ben enrolled at Morgan Park High School in a commercial course of study. During this time he also developed what would become a life-long love of music. With a used clarinet given to him by his parents, Dad became an accomplished player and joined the Morgan Park High School R.O. T.C. marching band. Graduating in 1938 he sought work in the community. Although he had worked at his father’s neighborhood gas station in Mt. Greenwood his working credentials were limited. He would need to make his way by doing whatever he could during a Depression that offered few jobs and limited opportunities. Dad fell back on some of the learned subject matter from high school – bookkeeping. Being fluently bi-lingual in both English and Lithuanian, Dad combined this ability with an innate organizational talent that emerged during this period of his life. He was introduced to a number of Lithuanian American small businesses through his volunteer work as the Treasurer of the Saltimeras Radio Club, the fan group of a then popular radio show aimed at Lithuanian language listeners. In the process Ben gained life long business clients for whom he performed bookkeeping and auditing services. As a young adult during the late 1930s and 1940 Ben also immersed himself in a growing Lithuanian-American cultural scene. He attended Catholic Church where masses were said in Lithuanian, joined a Lithuanian American stamp club, and played his clarinet in various Lithuanian polka bands around the south side of Chicago. He was a handsome guy with dark wavy hair playing in bands in the park gazebos common to the Lithuanian-American community of the time and he drew the attraction of the ladies, one in particular. The romance with his future wife-to-be, Stella, had started. As the sounding of war in Europe hit American shores in the early 1940’s, Ben was drafted for one year into the Army in early 1941. With the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of that year he was kept indefinitely in service until the war’s end and then mustered out in 1946. During his service Dad excelled, as he did in everything he attempted. His military superiors were uniformly impressed with his talents writing one letter of commendation after another, including an individual note from his commanding general. Not surprisingly, Ben advanced from private through the ranks, to sergeant major of an entire Army command, and on to warrant officer. Through all his seriousness of purpose, though, he never once lost his sense of humor often re-telling the story of being on the beach in the Panama Canal Zone with buddies and feeding beer to the friendly iguanas. Most remembered by Dad of these times, however, was his marriage in 1941 to Stella Stancikas. Stella had caught his eye while he was playing polka music at a Lithuanian picnic grove. She came from another Lithuanian immigrant family in the Chicago area, sang in a Lithuanian girls chorus, and a match was made forever. Together, they would have two sons, Albert and Edmund. Sometime after the conclusion of World War II Dad picked up where he had professionally left off before the war. He was hired by the Internal Revenue Service and served as an auditor in the Chicago office. During this time he and Stella bought their first home, at the end of a bus line on the southwest side of town, allowing them to leave a crowded apartment in the basement of her father’s home in the inner city. It would turn out that this modest 2-bedroom structure this would be the only family home they would own, Dad living there for 55 years. While working days, Ben took advantage of the GI Bill in the late 1940s and started night classes in accounting at the University of Illinois. In the early 1950s Mom often would pack a picnic supper, bring the 2 boys, and travel a couple bus routes to have dinner with Ben on the north side of Chicago during a break in his night classes. In 1953 Dad was awarded a Certified Public Accountant certificate from the university and began to think about a move to a better job. With his CPA degree in hand, Dad left the IRS and entered into the private sector during the early 1950s. After working for a period of time as the accountant/auditor for an automatic fire sprinkler company he eventually became a self employed CPA on Chicago’s south side for rest of his working career that spanned 50 years. He fondly recalled the many great people he met over the decades. In turn, they came forward at a later time to give warm accounts of their interactions with him. If a client had fallen on hard times, he would take an “IOU” for the bill, accept services in kind, or forgive the debt. He genuinely had a golden heart. Ben proved to be an excellent speaker, organizer and builder of the several key fraternal groups he joined. He eagerly served in leadership positions in his Veterans of Foreign Wars post, as president of his Lions Club chapter, and as the bilingual chair of exhibitions sponsored by the Chicago Lithuanian Philatelic Society. When not leading a group Dad volunteered wherever he was needed, selling those imitation red poppies for the disabled veterans at storefront entrances, collecting eye glasses to send off to disadvantaged third-world populations, going on drives to find toys for poor children at Christmas or selling fund-raising raffle tickets for his church parish. He believed in giving back to a country and to a community that provided the framework for his success. Above all else, however, he was a family man -- committed to his wife, serving his sons, and fiercely loyal to all in the family. Whether it was the annual family vacation to visit relatives on the farm in rural Michigan, the weekly Sunday breakfast either prepared by him (poorly so, but appreciated nonetheless) or served up at the local Greek diner, or nothing more than walking with “his boys” to the nearby “treat shop” for a pint of ice cream and the weekend newspapers, Ben loved his family and did everything he could to advance our best interests. Later in life Ben’s fidelity and committed dedication to his wife, Stella, was exemplified during her prolonged suffering with Alzheimer’s disease as he served her daily caretaking needs. He never once swerved on this mission as he tried his hardest to keep up with the daily tasks of a now more-limited accounting practice. As the end approached for Mom in 2000, when she could no longer communicate, she still recognized him. And as she was passing away and literally taking her last breadth Dad was there holding her hand. Rarely would a conversation pass without his glowing mention of her as the subsequent years unfolded. In 2003 after a stroke and rehabilitation, the family and Dad agreed that he should move to Maine to be closer to one of his sons. It was here he lived at the Plant Home, an assisted living facility that he loved and where he was loved in turn by the caring staff. He never lost his sense of humor, his kindness, nor his love of family. Ben Jurenas was the best, similar to many of his generation, but unique to those who knew him intimately. We will miss him enormously and we will never forget him. Love you, too, Dad. Interment will occur at St. Casimir Cemetery in Chicago this fall.