Charlie VanBoven, c. 2003

Charlie VanBoven (1952 - Dec. 6, 2007) was a member of various Inter-Cooperative Council houses for more than half of his life, including at least Lenny Bruce House, O'Keeffe Cooperative House, and, for 20 years, until his death after a stroke, Renaissance Cooperative House. In addition to his blood family, Charlie is survived by his family of hundreds upon hundreds of past and present Ann Arbor co-opers.

VanBoven was known to several generations of co-opers as a perennially friendly, welcoming, and inclusive housemate; many remember him as the first person to strike up a conversation when they first moved into a co-op. He was consistently and genuinely interested and supportive of those around him, spending more time listening than speaking in conversation. Housemates have suggested that Charlie in this way made significant contributions to Renaissance's social and emotional health over the last decade of his life.

His role as communicator was not limited to dinnertime sociability. VanBoven additionally produced a public access television show for some time, and was working on an introductory textbook on psychoanalysis, among other writings.

Within an hour of Charlie's death, around 50 current and former co-opers had gathered in the Renaissance dining room for an impromptu wake. In addition to scheduled memorial dinners at Ren and formal visitation and memorial services, the members of Renaissance are considering various options of memorializing Charlie permanently within the house.

"To be continued!"

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