Charles Aronin Lippitz - In Memorium

Less than two weeks before his passing, Charles (“Chuck”) Lippitz was working on his play scripts, doing as well as one could from a hospital bed. The Shakespeare Project of Chicago, on which Chuck served as co-vice president, performed these plays as a tribute to him the following week.

Such determination and commitment was not surprising to those who knew him.

He kept working throughout the seven months since his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, which finally took his life on July 1st.

Nor did he give up his leadership position in the Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights until very near the end. A colleague and friend noted that “Chuck had a keen sense of what's right, what's true, what's justand a refusal to allow unaddressed whatever rubs that sense the wrong way.” He carried that flame for as long as his body would allow.

Notwithstanding his love of theater and the arts, Chuck’s family remained the center of his life. To ease their sorrow, he wrote a short essay entitled “Party Animal,” instructing that the gathering after his funeral “should be a celebration of a wonderful life...there should be laughter and joy.” “I have everything I’ve ever wanted in life,” he assured his loved ones; “I am owed nothing.”

Chuck’s professional and artistic accomplishments began with a career in tax, estate planning and trust law after his graduation from the University Of Chicago Law School in 1951. He served as President of the Federal Bar Association (7th Circuit) and was a partner in Levenfeld, Kanter, Baskes and Lippitz for many years.

In 1986, Chuck left law to become a film producer, winning the award for Best Family Film at the 1994 Santa Clarita International Film Festival for his feature, Season of Change, starring Michael Madsen and Nichole Tom. He worked with Zev Braun, a west coast film producer, on various film projects. In 1995, Chuck won an Emmy as Executive Producer of the PBS documentary, Frank Yankovic: America's Polka King. He served as vice-president and a producer of Enter Here, a nationally distributed vocational videotape series for high school students. More recently, Chuck wrote plays, acted, and co-chaired Northlight Theatre’s “Open Door Ensemble” in Skokie. His play Different Music was performed at Circle Theatre’s New Plays Festival 2003.

One of Chuck’s great joys was guiding and mentoring young people seeking to make their mark in the world. “Consider all the facts, honestly. Find your intuition-- then decide,” he counseled the Northwestern undergraduate who was doing his bookkeeping, who then went on to earn a Ph.D.

He passed on his passion for the arts to his children. Riki Lippitz is cantor of Oheb Shalom Congregation in South Orange, New Jersey; and Lori Lippitz Chinitz is founder and leader of Chicago’s Maxwell Street Klezmer Band. His son, Michael Lippitz, consults for the US Department of Defense on technology management and policy.

Chuck Lippitz is survived by his wife of 53 years, Rhita; his sister, Shari Rosen; and an extended family in the Chicago area.