Shirley Jane Haas

Shirley Jane (Lowry) Haas, 97, former Chicago journalist and public relations professional, died peacefully at her Lincoln Park home Wednesday evening, Jan. 19, 2022 from age-related complications following from a stroke she suffered in October. A long-time resident of the iconic Mies Van der Rohe building at the corner of Diversey and Sheridan, Shirley used to catch the 151-bus outside her door every weekday and commute downtown to her PR job at the Chicago Health Dept. She was the eldest daughter of Chicago Police Dept. Lt. Loftus T. Lowry, an immigrant from County Down, Northern Ireland, and Chicago-born Catherine (Lilien) Lowry. Growing up on the South Side, Shirley attended Calumet Park High School, graduating second in her class. While still in high school, Shirley started her journalism career by writing a confidential neighborhood gossip column for her community newspaper, The Auburn Parker. She won a scholarship to the University of Chicago, which she accepted over her father's objections, and earned her BA in philosophy and the humanities. After college, Shirley was hired by the City News Bureau of Chicago, starting out covering crime and police beats, then moving to the courts. While there, she worked under the tutelage of City News' legendary hardboiled editors, and had many stories to tell about her adventures covering breaking stories all over Chicagoland. Not having a car, she would have to get to her assignments by public transport--riding either the el, a trolley car, or bus--at all hours of the day and night. As a young woman starting out in what had been a male-dominated profession, she had to confront her share of anti-female bias as she carried out her work. But she never let "the guys"--editors, male reporters or policemen--stop her or keep her from covering a story. From City News, she was hired by the Chicago Tribune as a reporter, and covered crime, courts, and community and woman-related stories. One big assignment was when she was sent to cover the 1956 Republican convention in San Francisco, to get "the female perspective." To obtain a coveted interview with Second Lady Pat Nixon, she crawled on her hands and knees through a crowded banquet hall until she reached Pat Nixon's table. Mrs. Nixon politely agreed to answer her questions, appreciating her moxie. In the late 50's, Shirley met and married fellow journalist Joseph Haas, reporter for the Chicago Daily News, which led to a hiatus in her career so she could be a full-time at-home mom after the birth of her son Jaime, soon followed by daughter Wendy Jocelyn. She did continue in PR from home during this time, working for the National Retarded Children's Association. For a number of years in the 60's, she also wrote a weekly children's book column in the Chicago Daily News Panorama section, under her maiden name, Shirley Lowry. (Her husband Joe Haas worked there and got her that assignment, which she really enjoyed, having always been an avid lover and reader of all kinds of books. One of her favorites was Alice in Wonderland, one of the many classics she read out loud to her kids.). But when her husband died suddenly in 1971, she had to get back to work to support the family. Starting out doing public relations locally in her Beverly neighborhood, she was able to eventually land a job in the mayor's press office, where she did press and community outreach, occasionally writing speeches for then Mayor Richard J. Daley when he needed to address a community event. From there, she moved to City Office for Senior Citizens as director of community education, then earned a promotion to being the head of PR for the Chicago Public Library as Chief of Public Information. Her final city PR posting was with the Chicago Health Dept., where one of her signal achievements was in starting to publicize and disseminate urgently-needed public health info about the burgeoning AIDs crisis. She liked to tell of working under 5 Chicago mayors, starting with Richard J. Daley, then Bilandic, Byrne, Washington, and the 2nd Daley. She had occasion to meet and work with each of them in person, and had the photographs to prove it. She retired from city service in 1993, but did not stop working. Instead, she bought a commercial property in the Andersonville neighborhood, and with help from her sister Sally Garza ran a quaint used bookstore in one of her storefronts, called The Fiery Clockface. Many book and poetry readings were held there--it became a beloved community gathering place while it was opened. In later years, Shirley kept up her writing by taking classes at the Center for Life and Learning at 4th Presbyterian Church, where her favorite class was memoir writing. Her goal was to always put something funny into one of her accounts, and she usually succeeded. Active up to almost the very end, she did weekly water aerobics classes and enjoyed walking in Lincoln Park, until confined to a wheel chair she enjoyed being taken out on what she called "buggy rides" there, where she loved to watch the dogs cavorting close to the Lincoln Park lagoon. She kept her subscription to the Chicago Tribune active right to the end, and read it every day. She is survived by her son Jaime, her daughter Jocelyn, grandsons Sam and Eli, step-grand-daughters Karine, Catherine, and Patricia, great-nieces Moni and Alex Garza, and other relatives and friends near and far from her long and rich life. She was deeply loved, and will be sorely missed! A memorial celebration of life service is being planned. Interment at Graceland Cemetery will be private.