NORTH LOOP NA / NPCT: a note about Kris Schluderman...

[Brian Bedrosian]

Good Morning Neighbors.  

I am writing with some very sad news. Kris Schluderman - long time North Loop resident and dedicated member of both the North Loop Neighborhood Association and North Loop Neighborhood Plan Contact Team - passed away in late November at his home.  

I have known Kris for over two decades but for most of that time only as an outspoken leader of our neighborhood who fought for urbanism and public transit. It was only during COVID, when we ran all of our meetings online, that I got to know him a bit more personally.  Kris did not have internet at his house at that time and would take the bus to my office to sit, socially distanced, with me as I ran the meeting.  This afforded us a bit of time to chat as I drove him back to his house.  I knew Kris as one of the authors of our Neighborhood Plan and someone I could always count on to give historic context to a new case before the NLNPCT.  Kris was an adult with autism and was very open about this, advocating for his community and breaking down misconceptions.

In recent years Kris continued to participate in Plan Contact Team Meetings, though his attendance became a bit less regular.  At the time he shared that he had some health issues he had been working through. The last time I saw him last year, however, he seemed to be in good health and spirits and I did not have cause for concern.  And so it is a shock for me to hear of his passing and I am deeply saddened that I had not thought to reach out to him over the last several months. 

We will be honoring Kris at the two upcoming community meetings.  At the NLNA meeting on February 4th we will hold some time to remember Kris and his legacy.  At the NLNCPT meeting on February 11th - a group he was very active in and instrumental to - we will spend some time remembering Kris and sharing stories about his life.  If you knew Kris I would ask that you please take some time to attend these meetings, as he did most of his life, to share your stories and help us all to know him better.  He certainly deserves that and more. 

If you have any questions, would like to chat privately, or need anything at all - please reach out to me or another board member of the NLNA or NLNPCT.  If you have any thoughts as to how the neighborhood can honor Kris in a more permanent way - please bring your ideas to the meetings to be shared.  As of now no obituary has been published, though we hope to do so very soon and are working with the family on his legacy.

I am sorry to bring such sad news to you on a Sunday morning - but so proud to have been able to call such a dedicated and selfless man a neighbor. 

Talk soon

b