With boundless
gratitude, we
offer a heartfelt
bon voyage to a
true champion of
keeping it Reel
Reel Chicago offers a heartfelt bon voyage to Nancy J. Lasch, who served as the magazine’s office manager, bookkeeper, and all around master of everything for nearly twenty years before announcing her retirement last month.
Raised in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood, Nancy has been a member of Chicago’s film and advertising industry since she accepted a job duplicating and distributing television commercials for Modern Talking Picture Services (MGS) “right after high school.” After spending 17 years with the company, she opened the Chicago office for Multi-Media Services.
A short while later, the industry began to change and fortunately, it was just around that time in 2000 when she received an interesting request from Ruth Ratny, who was then still publisher of Screen Magazine.
“Ruth called and said, ‘Can you come over here and straighten my office?’”
Nancy had known Ruth since the mid 70’s, and the pair often went to lunch during her days at Multi-Media Services. She began working as office manager a couple of days each week for Ruth and then made the transition when Ruth sold Screen and founded Reel Chicago.
In addition to handling all of Ruth’s professional and personal financial matters, Nancy handled a variety of duties like performing sales, managing affairs, and sharing her love for cooking and baking.
“Ruth got all the leftovers,” she recalls.
Now, nearly two decades later, Nancy is heading to Arizona, where she intends to live about three months out of every year as a “snowbird.” But not until after Halloween, her favorite time of year. She will be joined by a handful of longtime Chicago friends and her significant other, Pete Calandra.
“The future now is a lot of R&R,” she says. “I’m going to take some cooking and baking classes that I’ve always wanted to do, but never had the time.”
Nancy plans on returning to Chicago each year to spend the Christmas season with her extended family.
Among the things on her to-do list before heading southwest is having a meal at Via Venito, one of her favorite Chicago Italian restaurants, which will be closing on November 3rd after serving patrons for 35 years. After recently meeting a cousin who found her through Ancestry.com, Nancy also plans to research her own Czech and Italian roots, “when I find the time.”
Quick-witted, down-to-earth, and incomparably reliable, Nancy is an expert of business administration, a champion of keeping things real, and a loyal friend who will be missed by many in the Windy City, especially those of us at Reel Chicago.
With boundless gratitude, we wish her all the best.
