North Shore Death Notices: May 31 To June 6

The following death notices were added to funeral homes serving the North Shore area in the past week. Those homes have provided obituaries for some of those that have passed away recently. Patch offers condolences to their loved ones, links to their obituaries and notices of upcoming services below.

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Seguin & Symonds Funeral Home, 858 Sheridan Road in Highwood and 11 West Belvidere Road in Grayslake

Betty Rose "Toots" Amidei née Powers, 80, Highwood
Service June 8

DeAnn Marie Kaesler, 56, Lake Bluff

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Reuland & Turnbough Funeral Home, 1407 North Western Avenue in Lake Forest

Ward Bruce Walquist, 77, Lake Forest

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Wenban Funeral Home, 320 Vine Ave. in Lake Forest

Robert “Bob” Ray Rasmussen, 89, Lake Forest

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Chicago Jewish Funerals, 8851 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie and 195 N. Buffalo Grove Road in Buffalo Grove

Alla Fingurt née Schwartzman, 97, Buffalo Grove
Service June 8

Judith Ann Demain née Weinstein, 91, Highland Park
Service June 8

Norma Lerman, 100, Deerfield
Service June 11

Irving S. Weiner, 95, Buffalo Grove

Ninel Milyavskaya, 90, Long Grove

Larisa Rivkis née Karpilousky, 88, Chicago

Ruby Korn, 87, Naples, Florida

Natalie Berman Erber, 74, Chicago

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Donnellan Funeral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie

Paula Goering Brady, 69, Northbrook
Service June 8

Jeanne Digani Scherer, 70, Winnetka
Visitation June 8, service June 9

John C. “Hittman” Hitt, 84, Glenview
Visitation June 8, service June 9

Margaret Stevens, 90, Evanston

Shawn D. DeAmicis, 52, Chicago

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Haben Funeral Home, 8057 Niles Center Road in Skokie

Johanna Payne née Wilfinger, 82, Skokie

Marisa J. Luna, 57, Wheeling

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Thompson Funeral and Cremation, 1917 Asbury Ave., in Evanston

Evett Irving III, 50, Chicago
Visitation June 25, service June 26

Thelma Ree Thomas, 78, Evanston

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N. H. Scott & Hanekamp Funeral Home, 1240 Waukegan Road in Glenview

Dorothy Kerber, 100, Glenview
Service June 8

Michael Dennis Downing, 77, Glenview
Service June 9

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Simkins Funeral Home, 6251 Dempster St. in Morton Grove

Juanita L. Tacmo, 89, Morton Grove
Visitation June 18, service June 19

Janet S. Jacobson, 82, Morton Grove

Donna Louise Tobias, 74, Morton Grove

York Haw Chwa, 69, Morton Grove

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Weinstein & Piser Funeral Home, 111 Skokie Blvd. in Wilmette

Gerald "Jerry" Epstein, 85, Glenview
Service June 9

Paul A. Zemel, 75, Winnetka
Service June 9

Stella Topol, 92, Northbrook

Arthur Manson, 91, Highland Park

Roza Danilova, 84, Chicago

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Featured Obituary:

Scott Allan Baeseman, 52, of Highland Park, IL, died peacefully in Wisconsin at the home of his sister, Jody Baeseman and Steve Schlei, surrounded by his family, on June 6, 2021.

His last day on this earth was spent riding in the sunshine in his sister’s convertible and enjoying the glow of a campfire with his siblings.

Scott was born August 5, 1968 in Edgar, WI, son of the late Arden and Joan Baeseman. He married his husband, Valentin Serban, on March 20, 2021 in a beautiful ceremony on Lake Michigan in Highland Park. In addition to Valentin, he is survived by his two daughters, Stella and Margaret “Mimi”, who were the absolute loves of his life.

Scott was a 1986 graduate of Edgar High School. From there he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and Opera from Viterbo University in LaCrosse, Wisconsin and a Master’s Degree in Opera Performance from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, where he graduated with honorary distinction and was invited to join Pi Kappa Lambda Society of Musical Scholars. As a Golden Apple Teaching Scholar with the Chicago Area Golden Apple Foundation, Scott was awarded a six-month sabbatical to Northwestern University to pursue his personal interests in social justice in education, harp performance, storytelling in education, and musical composition.

For the past twenty-two years, Scott served as Fine Arts Department Chair, music educator, and Choral Conductor at Lake Forest Country Day School. His awards were many, both local and national: Lake Forest Country Day Yvonne Banks Caring Teacher Award (twice), Lake Forest Country Day Charles E. Leake Master Teacher Award, Lake Forest Country Day James L. Marks III Faculty Merit Award, Lake Forest Country Day Second Century Teaching Chair Award, Illinois State Music Teacher of the Year, Golden Apple Teacher of Distinction, three-time Grammy Award Teacher of the Year nominee and finalist, and Edgar High School Wall of Fame for Distinguished Alums, for his contributions to music education. Although he was a decorated educator, he didn’t teach for accolades. In teaching, Scott had found his calling and was rewarded for his passion.

Scott was also a composer of sacred solo, choral, and instrumental works. His works premiered in Asia, Canada, Europe, and the United States. His song cycle composition for solo voice and piano, based on the works of William Shakespeare, was awarded an Honorary Distinction Award and is housed in the national library for the National Association for the Teachers of Singing.

Scott was taught the value of volunteerism by his family early on and became a religious affiliate with the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. He volunteered as a Lay Episcopal Chaplain with the Highland Park Police Department for the past several years. As an educator, he spent several years as a lecture/recitalist with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, teaching and performing in their inner city schools’ program.

Scott was known as a colorful storyteller and used his own stories to help others in both his career as an educator and within his ministry. He ended each of his classes every day with a charge to his students, “Go Make A Positive Difference In the World!” and he was proud to maintain contact over the years with so many of his former students who did exactly that.

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Send obituaries and images to your Patch to be included in future editions: Deerfield, Evanston, Glenview, Highland Park, Lake Bluff-Lake Forest, Niles-Morton Grove, Northbrook, Skokie, Winnetka-Glencoe-Northbrook, Wilmette-Kenilworth

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Last week: North Shore Death Notices: May 24 To May 30