Rachel Angres
Chicago, d. 15.July.2015.
Rachel Angres was a Chicago bike messenger and journalist/writer who
passed away July 15, 2015
Rachel Angres' obituary:
Rachel Mary Angres
Died: July 15, 2015
Rachel Mary Angres, age 29. Devoted daughter of Daniel and Kathy
Angres; fond sister of Dominic Angres; granddaughter of Eveleen (the
late Donald) Bettinardi, and the late Frances and the late Werner
Angres; niece of Bryon (Sheila) Bettinardi, Bob (Ann) Bettinardi,
Kris (Joe) LaRocco, Joe (Sheila) Bettinardi, Jim (Cathy) Bettinardi,
and Gabe (Jeanne) Angres; cousin to many.
Our sweet Rachel. We will miss your beautiful smile, your quiet
wisdom, and your tremendous compassion for all the humans and
animals that you encountered. Rachel loved her dog Fiona and she is
now holding her in heaven, surrounded by her grandparents Don,
Frances, and Werner.
Visitation Sunday, July 19, 2015 from 3pm to 7pm at Michalik Funeral
Home, 1056 West Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60642. Family and
friends will meet Monday, July 20, 2015 at Assumption Catholic
Church, 323 West Illinois Street, Chicago, Illinois 60654 for a 10am
Funeral Mass. Interment Oakridge-Glen Oak Cemetery in Hillside.
Donations in Rachel’s memory may be made to Haymarket Center.
College remembers alumna
The death of Rachel Mary Angres, a 2013 Columbia alumna with an
interdisciplinary major in journalism and English, has saddened
friends and faculty alike.
Angres, 29, died July 15 of a fall from the Parkview Condominiums
building, 505 N. McClurg Court, where she lived, according to the
Chicago Sun-Times, which reported that she was pronounced dead at
12:16 p.m. at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office told The Chronicle that it
has classified Angres’ death as a suicide, and the Chicago Police
Department’s Office of News Affairs said the matter remains under
investigation.
While attending Columbia from 2011–2013, Angres had a passion for
writing both creatively and journalistically.
She was published on Gapers Block, a Chicago-based news website,
through articles she wrote about city politics and interviews with
musicians.
“The thing I’ll remember about Rachel was that she always had a
smile,” said Charles Jefferson Jr., a 2014 Columbia alumnus who took
the former Journalism Department’s “Covering Politics” course with
Angres in 2012. “Dealing with something as heavy as Chicago
politics, Rachel managed to have a good attitude through it all.”
Outside of journalism, the other half of Angres’ degree allowed her
to be more inventive with her writing.
ReLynn Hansen, an associate professor in the Creative Writing
Department, remembers Angres’ vibrant personality from when she took
Hansen’s “Creative Nonfiction: Intermediate Workshop” course.
Hansen described Angres as “both quiet and joyous at times.”
“She was enthusiastic,” Hansen said. “She had a big personality when
she wanted to show that part of her, [and] at other times she could
be quiet, which is a good mix for a class to sit and listen and then
come forward at certain points.”
Hansen also noted Angres’ compositions for the class, which she said
ranged from topics such as animals and travel to compassionate
writing about roommates or others close to her who may have been
struggling at times.
“Her mind was so active and alive on the page,” Hansen said. “She
was taking risks in her writing, which is what we want our students
to do. She liked to write sometimes about a world she had dreamt,
and then relate it to more tangible qualities in the world.”
After receiving her degree from Columbia in 2013, Angres went
on to pursue a master’s degree in psychology at National Louis
University in Chicago, according to Kris LaRocco, Angres’ aunt.
Angres had been working toward the degree this summer while working
full time as a counselor at Chicago’s Haymarket Center, a facility
for individuals dealing with addiction.
LaRocco described her niece as a kind, positive and generous young
woman, adding that she always protected those close to her and loved
working as a counselor and helping others.
“Rachel was one of the most special young women I have ever had the
pleasure of having in my life,” LaRocco said. “She had the most
beautiful soul. Everybody that knew her loved her. When she smiled,
she lit up the whole room. She was the most beautiful girl inside
and out and she is going to be missed.”
Rachel
Angres's Tumblr page - Lucy Betina
