2022 Obit: Juel Ulven (Chicago area)

Subject: RE: 2022 Obit: Juel Ulven (Chicago area)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Aug 22 - 12:14 PM

From his Facebook page:

Juel Ulven passed away peacefully at 9:30pm on August 19th at the age of 75 years. Survived by his loving wife of 40 years, Jessica Laffey, his sons Zach (Paige) and John (Viri), grandchildren Violet, Killian, Weston and Adeline, his brother Rodney (Jean) and sister Karen. He will be remembered especially for his great and many contributions to the folklore community and for his fearless enthusiasm and ready smile.

Services will be held from 1-6pm Sunday August 28th at Yurs Funeral home in St. Charles IL, where friends and family are invited to share a special song or story in his honor.

His Facebook page.

Subject: RE: 2022 Obit: Juel Ulven (Chicago area)
From: CupOfTea
Date: 22 Aug 22 - 02:03 PM

From my Facebook page:
My heart aches with the loss of Juel Ulven. I never realized when I came to Illinois for graduate school that I would be getting a parallel education in folk music, with Juel as the impresario who made things happen.? Mentor, Musical Fairy Godfather, Historian, Teacher, Promoter, Coordinator, Source, Technical wiz, and so very staunchly, a Friend… there are so many more ways to describe how important Juel has been for me - and I’m only one of the thousands of people whose life he changed for the richer, happier & more interesting. My gratitude is endless.
The transforming of the Wednesday night song circle into zoom sessions during the pandemic gave those of us who live far from Fox Valley a chance to check in with Juel and the crew every week. Extraordinary opportunity to have a little side chats, listen to Juel tell stories, particularly at the end of the evening when only a few folks were left. I got to spend more time with Juel in the last two years than I would have in non-pandemic times, and in situations where he wasn’t in the midst of running a festival??. There were plenty of opportunities to tell him what a great gift his friendship has been, and I guarantee you I took every single one of them; there is comfort in knowing that when friend departs this earth, they know how much you love them, they take that love with them when they go?.

A number of folks thought this reflected much of what he had been for them, as well. Thinking about Juel as just “Chicago Area” doesn’t tell the whole story. Juel was one of the founders of Folk Alliance (now International, but originally North America) and was active in forming that baby organization in the 80s, and the formation of the regional sub-groups like FARM. His links with performers and festivals in Canada, England, and around the US were many - support, advice, suggestions, recommendations, all done in a kind, low-key sharing way. He wanted all the musicians and those who presented them to thrive, enjoy, have fun.

There IS quite a bit to all the parts of the Chicago area folk scene that Juel had a hand in: I had the fun of being in the sound booth when he was running it for a University of Chicago Folk Festival concert broadcast. His own Fox Valley Folklore society has SO many offerings besides the festival - barn dances, open mics, weekly sing around (40+ YEARS! Wish I had the actual number), mainstage and house concerts, instrument workshops, and a wide variety of ways to spread the news and schedules of other folk societies & presenting organizations. His taste was broad, and excellent, with a particular love for maritime music and folks from the British Isles…oh yeah, and Midwest songwriters…and old time…and banjos…shoot I could go on for days & still not mention it all! What he knew about the folk music scene, and the people in it, was astonishing.

AND THEN there was the sadly too short lived Midwest magazine COME FOR TO SING… yanno, this guy hardly slept. He only needed a couple hours he’d say & he could get so much done middle of the night with no phone calls. Yet he always made time for friends, and it was oh, so, easy to become his friend: you just had to meet the man. There are few humans who made such a wide swath of goodness in their wake with such lack of fuss about themselves. He used to laugh at folks who were “a legend in their own mind” He turned that phrase around in soliciting volunteers: “Become a legend on your own time!” - and he was the first, best example of that.

Joanne Laessig in Cleveland

Subject: RE: 2022 Obit: Juel Ulven (Chicago area)
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 22 Aug 22 - 11:16 PM

Here is what I posted on facebook. Juel was a great friend and did a lot of promote folk music. Particularly the traditional end, though he did like a lot of songwriters as well.
Word is getting around about Juel Ulven passing away (Friday). It was not a surprise, but one is never ready when the word finally hits. In 1978 in the winter, I was just a couple months back from hanging around with my older brother in Germany for four months (another story for another time). My old guitar playing buddy, Brent Chilton, and I were playing music together seriously. Mostly a lot of traditional or real obscure folk oriented songs at the time. We ventured down to the Geneva Mining Company because we heard there was an open mic. That was when I first met Juel and came into contact with the Fox Valley Folklore Society.
I would wind up going to the open mics and song circles for many years when we lived in the Chicago area. Juel got me involved with the folk festival when it was still a glorified picnic in the fall of 1978. I met Andrew Calhoun back at the first aforementioned open mic. Around the same time I met another good friend, Lee Murdock, who also was involved with the folklore society. Juel was one of the first people I met who had heard of some of my folk heroes (Nic Jones, Dick Gaughan, some of the sixties folk scare songwriters, etc). Up until then if I mentioned or played recordings of some of these people, I would get looked at like I was from Mars.
When my immediate family was going to Europe to spend time with my older brother, Juel invited me Emily Friedman's for her Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. I met Art Thieme at one of those. There were other music luminaries that I met through the Juel/Emily connection. (Eventually I brought my parents to some of Emily's waifs and strays holiday parties. Juel and I agreed that the drama factor was vastly reduced when my parents were there, another story for another time). Juel was very supportive on my musical associations with Margaret Nelson, Kate Early, and my spouse and best friend, Susan Urban. There are a lot of Juel yarns I could spin, but maybe, another time. It's not going to be the same without him. May he rest well.

Subject: RE: 2022 Obit: Juel Ulven (Chicago area)
From: crism
Date: 24 Aug 22 - 12:17 AM

I got to know Juel, just a little bit, through the Fox Valley Festival while I was living in Illinois, and helped a friend host a chantey sing there. But during the pandemic, I got to know him better through the monthly online chantey sings… He was always friendly, warm, welcoming, and supportive, and he had so many great stories from the folk scene and his Navy career. I really thought he would pull through this; I still have on my desktop the screen-shot from the last Zoom chantey sing that we sent him, which he said cheered him up. This is a great loss.

Subject: RE: 2022 Obit: Juel Ulven (Chicago area)
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 25 Aug 22 - 09:48 AM

The loss of a lovely man who was an integral part of the Chicago Folk Scene. I have added his name to the "In Memoriam" thread and my condolences and sympathies go to all those who know and love him.

RIP

Subject: RE: 2022 Obit: Juel Ulven (Chicago area)
From: MoorleyMan
Date: 26 Aug 22 - 03:48 PM

A great loss indeed. I too only got to know him relatively recently, through the Fox Valley Shanty Sings online - and I'd heartily agree with Crism above. Juel was a really lovely and welcoming and supportive guy. RIP friend.

Subject: RE: 2022 Obit: Juel Ulven (Chicago area)
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 02 Sep 22 - 06:11 PM

I first met Juel at one of the early Folk Alliance meetings (in the early 90s) and we also saw each other at the Folk Alliance Region Midwest meetings (the first two were in Aurora and Juel had a lot to do with organising them, not surprisingly).

I hadn't seen him in many, many years, but as a result of the pandemic, I've had the pleasure of joining the Fox Valley folklore Society zoom sings and renewing his acquaintance. He did so much for the world of folk music and had such an impact – and of course was a lovely guy. Hard to believe he's gone.

Sincere sympathies to his family. He leaves a hell of a legacy – may that be of some comfort.

I adapted an old trad song (because Juel loved old trad songs) in his honour. The festival referred to in the song is the Fox Valley Folk Festival, which takes place in a lovely park on an island in the Fox River, and was one of Juel's countless folk undertakings.

His Name Was Juel
to the tune of The Galway Shawl

At Lake Geneva in old Kane County
On a pleasant island one autumn day
I spied a fellow behind the sound desk
His lovely festival took my breath away

His name was Juel, he was a diamond
He shared his music with one and all
Now all Fox Valley mourn his finale
Though no one knows how he did it all

He brought us singing, barn dances, stories
He taught so many to love them too
Though we will miss him, his lines will linger
The gifts he gave us will see us through

His name was Juel, he was our diamond
His gift of music did us enthrall
Now all Fox Valley mourn his finale
But we'll remember what he gave us all