In Remembrance

As a Volunteer Manager, I get the joy of getting to know many wonderful people who give their time and energy to LPCS. Sometimes though, my job can be sad as well. Earlier this month we learned that one of LPCS’ long time volunteers had passed away. Jo Ann Bogdanor Hurd Reynolds, aged 71, died October 4 of complications from ovarian cancer. JoAnn had been an LPCS volunteer for many years.

I attended the memorial service for JoAnn that was held on October 29th at Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church. There were about 100 people in attendance from all walks of JoAnn’s life. Knowing only JoAnn the volunteer, it was touching to hear stories from some of her family and close friends. They told of a woman who was known as feisty, determined, very generous, and always well dressed. At LPCS, we knew the generous JoAnn. She helped prepare dinner and sack lunches with members of her church, Lincoln Park Presbyterian. And each month for many years, JoAnn would serve as an overnight volunteer, providing supervision to the 35 guests of the Lincoln Park Community Shelter. Guests appreciated her attention to detail and no-nonsense approach, and she was consistently voted one of their favorite overnight volunteers!

Jo Ann was born in St Louis. She graduated from Ferguson High School and the University of Missouri with a BA in History, and did graduate work at the University of Illinois. She was a member of Alpha Phi sorority. She moved to Chicago where she began a long and valued career at IBM, working at branches in Chicago and Houston and at headquarters in White Plains, NY. She was an elder and choir member at Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church in Chicago, and at Presbyterian churches in Houston and Fairfield, CT.
In honor of JoAnn’s giving spirit, the family requested that in lieu of flowers gifts be made to Lincoln Park Community Shelter, Sarah's Circle, or to any other of the many charities with which she was active. JoAnn is survived by her husband David; brothers John and James; children John, Judith, Susan and Rachel; and grandchildren David, George and Connor.

Thank you for all that you did for LPCS, JoAnn. You will be missed.

--Heather Pressman, Community Relations Manager

JoAnn Reynolds