Beverly Blachman Huckman

Beverly Blachman Huckman was born February 4, 1942 in Norfolk, VA to the late Belvin W. and Jeanette (nee Garfield) Blachman. Beloved wife for 54 years of Michael S. Huckman, MD; loving mother of Andrew G. (Elaine Serafim) Huckman of Chicago and Robert S. (Jennifer Burbridge) Huckman of Newton, MA; proud grandmother of Noah B. Huckman of Newton, MA; caring sister of Alan J. (Evelyn Kuhn) Blachman and sister-in-law of Lenore H. (late Richard) Turteltaub; kind aunt of many nieces and nephews. Mrs. Huckman is also survived by her devoted caregiver Miriam Edwards.Beverly grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia. Public schools at that time in Virginia were segregated, but her family could not afford a private school. She was class valedictorian and also state debating champion. She majored in government with a particular interest in African studies. She was graduated from Smith College in Northampton, MA, with honors in June of 1963. That summer she was on the Mall in Washington when Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. It had a permanent effect on her life.Married in 1964, she spent 3 years in Philadelphia and moved to St. Louis for her husband's 2-year fellowship. Since Beverly had worked for US Department of Housing and Urban Developement in Philadelphia, she volunteered to represent the tenants in the St. Louis Public Housing rent strike of 1968. The rent strike was eventually settled in favor of the tenants, and Beverly helped write the settlement which also established the St. Louis Civic Alliance for Housing, paving the way for tenant management in public housing.She moved to Evanston in 1970 and worked with Adele Neems, an Evanston alderman, writing innovative Condominium Conversion and Landlord Tenant Ordinances. Beverly was a consultant to the Human Relations Commissions of both Evanston and Skokie and was instrumental in the establishment of public housing in both communities. In 1974, she became Equal Opportunity Coordinator for Academic Affairs at Rush University Medical Center and retired in 2012 as Associate Vice President for Equal Opportunity and Diversity. She eventually served as Chair of the Evanston Housing Commission and steered legislation for adoption of the Group and Family Care Ordinance. She later served as Chair of the Northshore Community Housing Resource Board. She served on the board of Beth Emet Synagogue and chaired its Social Action Committee and also served as a Trustee of the Beth Emet Foundation. Other boards on which she served during her years in Evanston were the Citizens Committee for Victim Assistance, and Housing Options for the Mentally Ill of Evanston. She was a founding member of the Evanston Catholic-Jewish Dialogue which began in 1986 and still exists. In Chicago, she became a member of the Benefit Steering Committee of Access Living, a group which advocates for disability rights. Since 1986 she has been on the Executive Board of the Chicago Region Chapter of the American Jewish Committee and served as its Vice President and Chair of its Interreligious Affairs Commission from 2005 to 2007, where she remained a board member. In 1999, she was a member of its delegation to Berlin, sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung to foster German-American Jewish understanding. She served as Chicago Principal for a Day at King Elementary School for which she received the Outstanding Partnership Award from Mayor Richard M. Daley in 2007. She was a member of United Way Chicago Council from 1995 to 2003. She was a public member of the Board of Trustees of the Radiological Society of North America Research and Education Foundation from 2003 to 2009 and was one of two non-attorney members of the Board of Directors of the Center for Conflict Resolution established by the Chicago Bar Association from 2000 to 2010. At Rush, she was responsible for the development and implementation of the Rush Diversity, Equal Opportunity, and Affirmative Action programs, the Policies and Procedures on Harassment, programs related to the Americans With Disabilities Act and other civil rights policies and programs. Largely due to her efforts, Rush received the Henry Betts, MD Award for significant contributions in promoting disability rights and employment advocacy. She was also instrumental in the hospital's receiving the US Department of Labor "EVE Award" for Exemplary Voluntary Efforts in Equal Opportunity for Minorities, Women, Individuals with Disabilities, and Veterans in 2007 and in the hospital receiving the LGBT Healthcare Equality award from the Human Rights Campaign over the years 2009 to 2012. Among the other awards she has won were the Association of American Medical Colleges Women in Medicine Silver Achievement Award and a Distinguished Service Award from the Center for Conflict Resolution. At Rush, she received the 1997 Eugene J-MA Thonar Award for outstanding contributions to advancing opportunities for people with disabilities, the 2005 Henry P. Russe, MD Humanitarian Award and the J. Robert Clapp Diversity Leadership Award. Since 2015 she was a public member of the Residency Review Committee of the American Board of Allergy and Immunology.Funeral services will be held 11:30 a.m., Thursday, May 30, 2019 at Beth Emet The Free Synagogue, 1224 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL 60202. Interment Memorial Park Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to The Huckman Family Fund at Beth Emet or to Smith College.