Eunice Blanchard Poethig, 1930-2018

Intercultural Christian educator and innovator, hymnodist, feminist, nanay, nani, lola, spiffy dresser,
tradition maker, irrepressible interior decorator, Pine Knot canoer.

Eunice and her brother David were was raised by Juliet, a leader within the League of Women Voters, and Pete, an inventor, pilot, and head of the Aeroproducts Division of General Motors.

Eunice and Dick met at Union Theological Seminary (NYC) where she received a masters degree in Christian Education. In the Philippines, she was a Christian educator at Ellinwood Bible School and Philippine Women's University. As a hymnodist, she published three popular song books that incorporate Philippine hymns: She also co-edited the well-used Filipino Family Cookbook.

On one of the furloughs to the United States, Frank Cross, an Old Testament scholar and Eunice's cousin by marriage, relayed his work translating the Dead Sea Scrolls. Eunice was transfixed. Back in the United States and after an MDiv at McCormick Theological Seminary, she went on to receive a PhD in Old Testament studies at Union. Her dissertation, "The Victory Song Tradition of the Women of Israel" explored women's critical contribution to early Israelite liturgies. She has published bible studies and articles on her work. "Prayer and Praise in Ancient Israel" ( Liturgy 9:1, Fall 1990) is one example.

Eunice was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in 1979 in the middle of a Chicago blizzard. She rented a school bus to get people to the church. Of her many years serving the PC(USA) at the Presbytery and national level, she speaks most fondly of her years as Executive Presbyter of Western New York. For more information about Eunice’s professional life, go to her Wikipedia page .
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Eunice canoeing on Lake Archibald in Wisconsin.
Family Tradition Maker

Eunice created many beautiful family traditions for the Poethig children. The most quotidian of these was the  hymn-singing-at-breakfast-lunch-and-dinner tradition, consistent with her work as a hymnodist. Her daughter Margaret captured this in an audio story, "We Sing."

Eunice managed the logistics of every move of the Poethig family, from the United States to the Philippines and back several times, from Chicago to Buffalo to Louisville, back to Chicago, and finally to Richard's and Eunice's last residence together at the Admiral at the Lake retirement community on the North Side of Chicago.

In her last years, she had been at work on an historical narrative titled "Thirteen Generations" starting with her ancestors on the Mayflower. At her 80th birthday, the family met at the Thomas Lee House in East Lyme, one of the oldest wood frame houses in Connecticut in its primitive state. For this event she prepared a synopsis of the Lee-Lay family history, "Silent Thunder: The Radical Daughters of Priscilla Mullins."

Eunice passed away on Palm Sunday, March 25, 2018. For the memorial service, her daughter Johanna compiled a video about Eunice's beautiful life.

Richard and Eunice's Children

R. Scott Poethig

Husband and father, geneticist, teacher, fledgling craftsman.

I hold the John H. and Margaret B. Fassitt Chair in Biology at the University of Pennsylvania. My laboratory studies the mechanism of the juvenile-to-adult transition in plants ranging from weeds to trees, and also works to develop tools to make genetic analysis in plants easier and more efficient. I teach courses at a variety of different levels, the most popular being my non-science majors class on the “Biology of Food”. In my spare time, I make things out of wood. Following in my father's footsteps, I am a stamp collector and enjoy curating my massive collection from African countries. I am married to Maja Bucan, who is a professor and associate dean in the Genetics Department at Penn; our son, Luke, is a strategist in employer branding and employee engagement and an avid tennis player.
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On our way to Annapurna Sanctuary, Nepal, 2013

Kathryn (Kerry) Poethig

Dream interpreter, hiker, retired global studies professor, "Lesby-terian," married to theater director and Roman Catholic woman priest Victoria Rue.

I’m interested in worlds – this world, that world, the worlds in-between, and the marginal people who shuttle between them. I've been following communities that interact with invisible worlds that provide guidance, succor and protection. I call this "invisible aid." Over the years, I've worked with Southeast Asian refugees, studied the post-conflict transition in Cambodia, just peace in the Philippines, and built anti-imperialist feminist interfaith alliances. I've written about growing up in the Philippines, Manila Days. Late convert to long distance walking.

My blog about  growing up in the Philippines is called Manila Days.

Johanna Poethig

Visual, public and performance artist, swimmer, community and participatory arts activist and improviser.

I live in Oakland, California, with Chris Brown, composer of experimental music and professor emeritus at Mills College Music Department. I am professor emeritus of the Visual and Public Art Department of CSU, Monterey Bay. In 2021 I received the California Arts Council Individual Artist Legacy Award. I spend my time in my studio painting and making things, writing stories, exhibiting my work on and offline, managing whatever public project I might have or want to try for. I am spending more time with my family and friends, virtually or in person, reading, swimming in my favorite places, doing Pilates, daily neighborhood walks and hiking in parks, cooking good food with Chris, planting flowers, succulents and watching the trees grow in my yard.
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Margaret Poethig

Worker for the public interest, record keeper, audio storyteller and podcaster, armchair birdwatcher, bean cooker, and biscotti baker.

My partner Dick Creps and I are homebodies in Arlington, Virginia, on the lookout for a retirement destination that checks all the boxes on our impossible list of requirements. After more than 30 years giving my all to government jobs, and caring for my parents in their final years, I’m learning to be idle. During the coronavirus pandemic, I made a podcast with my dad called Keeping Dad Alive. I’m thinking about my next podcast.
Click on the button to listen to some of my audio stories.

Erika Poethig

Mother to two boys, wife to committed public servant, policy professional, unstoppable knitter and aspiring green thumb.

Over the course of my career, I served in the Biden White House as Special Assistant to the President for Housing and Urban Policy, and in the Obama Administration leading policy development at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In the intervening years I was vice president and chief innovation officer at the Urban Institute.

Despite living and working for 12-plus years in the nation’s capital, we still consider Chicago home. An aspiring politician, our son Sam returned there to attend college and begin building his political base by running for office in student government. As a family we love road trips (especially our youngest son Ben), exploring new cities and national historic sites, attending church, getting to know the wait staff at our favorite diner, and getting in some exercise wherever we can.