Vreni Naess

1933 - 2020

April 7, 1933 - September 26, 2020

Born in Muri, Switzerland (near Bern), the first child of Otto and Dora Brechbühl. She received an excellent Swiss education, attending schools for girls, including Mädchensekundarschule Laubegg, where she met her best friend for life, Sünni Lundsgaard-Hansen.

Vreni spoke five languages fluently, with some knowledge of three other languages. Always adventurous, as a young woman she traveled and studied abroad, including coursework at the Sorbonne in Paris, at Cambridge University in London, and at the University of Perugia in Italy. She worked one year in the Economic Section of the US Embassy in Bern.

Eventually she landed in New York City (sailing on one of the last successful voyages of the Andrea Doria and having cocktails with Ernest Hemingway on the way), where she planned to work to earn money to travel on to Peru. In New York, she met Per, a tall handsome Norwegian who liked to cook, and together they moved to Hyde Park in Chicago in 1958. She attended the "local school" in Hyde Park, the University of Chicago, receiving her B.A. in Romance Languages in June, 1961, after just one year of studies.

In 1965, now with two children (Mark and Ralph-Barbara arrived not long after), they bought a large apartment on the third floor of the second building in Chicago to be converted to condominiums. Her first job in Chicago was at WFMT radio, where Studs Terkel was a close colleague. She loved culture, the arts and artists, and was involved with all the arts her whole life, with season subscriptions to most. For some years she ran the Hyde Park in-school music programs for the PTA as a volunteer. She wrote often and well, in multiple languages, including a monthly column about America for her Swiss alma mater's newspaper. She was a voracious reader in multiple languages and genres, and an unrepentant grammarian.

Her second job, from 1970 to 1987, was as office manager, babysitter, life organizer and fixer at the Chicago Children's Choir, housed in the First Unitarian Church in Hyde Park, under the direction of Chris Moore. She kept the Choir going by booking and organizing concerts, and has been credited with keeping the Choir afloat during those years, so it could become the super organization it is today. She deeply shared the Choir's vision for a multi-racial, multi-class melting pot of opportunity for all.

She was deeply committed to civil rights, marching with Dr. King in Chicago in 1963, and continued to fight for this and other causes her whole life. She was very proud that Obama was a nearby neighbor in Hyde Park, and ran into him and Michelle from time to time, as they both took small children to school-she, her grandchildren and they, their two girls.

Her last job was as the administrator for the University of Chicago Department of Germanic Studies, where her language and administrative skills--and her will--kept things running, whether the professors were on the ball or not. In particular, she took good care of the graduate students and visiting academics.

After retiring she befriended and worked closely with Lisa Fittko, a German Jewish refugee who wrote two books about the experience of leading fleeing refugees over the Pyrenees-most famously Walter Benjamin. Vreni helped with correspondence, translation and company as Lisa grew increasingly famous. Vreni was instrumental in setting up an internship fund in Lisa's memory at Crossroads, to train new generations of young activists. You can learn about the Fund from Vreni herself in an interview she gave about it online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqvmQXm1SJY

She loved having visitors and in later years, student renters, at her house. She was a fierce fan of the city of Chicago and of Hyde Park, and often gave tours of both to her guests, who came from around the world. She did not like the summer heat, however, and every summer took her three children on long trips--sometimes camping by car across the U.S., sometimes traveling to Europe and Switzerland. She was ahead of her time, as a woman traveling alone with children.

Unfailingly polite and well-spoken, she nevertheless had strong opinions and did not suffer fools (or dullards) gladly. Her highest compliment for someone she had recently met was that they were "interesting." She was always cheerful, loved to laugh, loved chocolate, cheese, good company and good food (she was not a fan of cooking, however). She could yodel, play the piano and the accordion.

She liked to help people and she liked to get things fixed, in the world and in the neighborhood. She never hesitated to jump in to any situation where things needed doing. When U of C students rode their bikes down the sidewalk, she fearlessly leapt in front of their moving bicycles and explained to the shocked student where they should be riding. She was very involved in all matters pertaining to administration of the condominium for over 50 years, serving many times as President. She loved flowers, and planted and took care of outdoor flowers around the condominium for many years.

She touched many, many lives, helping people make connections and get where they were trying to go (some she introduced even got married to each other!). She always went the extra mile to shape the outcome she felt should happen. She cared deeply about many issues, often writing to legislators, newspapers, companies and organizations with suggestions, concerns and advice. With her deep decency, she brought out the best in people.

She died suddenly at home, without experiencing major disability or lingering illness, exactly as she had wished. She leaves behind three children, two grandsons, Lauritz and Marco Naess, daughter-in-law Denise Dahn, her sister Käti Rytz Brechbühl and family, sister-in-law Heidi Brechbühl, brother-in-law Res Wyss and family. Her wish was to be cremated and her ashes stay with the family.

Condolences can be mailed to: Naess Family, 5492 S. Everett Ave #3, Chicago, IL 60615, USA. A memorial service may be held at a later, post-Covid date. The family asks that memorial contributions, in lieu of flowers or gifts, be made to the Lisa Fittko Internship, at Crossroads Fund, 3411 W. Diversey Ave, # 20, Chicago, IL 60647, or online at: crossroadsfund.org/vreni

A communal Book of Remembrance is online for us all to get together

digitally and share memories of Vreni. Please do take time to share your memories on Facebook at Remembering Vreni Naess. Vreni touched many lives, and it will be a cherished memory for us to learn (for the first time) about many of those events.