Patricia Haynes, who left her mark on Chicago's youth theater scene, dies at 74

Patricia Haynes’ journey in education didn’t start by choice but rather by necessity; her father died when she was 21, and as the eldest, she had five siblings to take care of, the youngest being 2 years old.

Eventually, they all made it into her productions as she started teaching students at St. Francis Academy in Joliet, got her master's at Ball State University, and started a 37-year run at Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood, where she helmed the theater program. She eventually went on to create the 99th Street Summer Theatre Festival and other programming to get people involved in the performance arts.

“She really just was always an educator at her core,” her daughter, Erin Fitzpatrick, told the Sun-Times. “Education was really where she needed to be, that was just who she was.”

Mrs. Haynes of Evergreen Park died June 26 after a more than yearlong battle with cancer. She was 74.

Born on Jan. 20, 1950 in Joliet, Mrs. Haynes first started working in theater in high school with a few productions, but her passion for it blossomed during a stint at Lewis University, where she worked every role from director to box office ticket salesperson, according to Fitzpatrick.

Mrs. Haynes ended up at Mother McAuley, where she made use of the school's large theater space and her husband’s knack for making sets.

However, she “kept busy,” Fitzpatrick said, working to create programs during the breaks in the year.

Her summertime Kids Kamp initially started as a 40-kid theater camp, largely made up of former students' younger siblings, but eventually grew to take in more than 300 students. Now many of the other South Side theater camps are built around a similar structure, Fitzpatrick said, solidifying her mark on the area’s theater community.

Students soon began calling her “Momma Haynes” as they got close to her, and many students found their way out of trouble with her guidance. “I don’t make stars,” she would say, not focusing on student egos but rather their growth as people — though her students would go on to star in films “Oppenheimer” and “Shutter Island,” among others.

“My mom always seemed to find the kids who needed her guidance,” Fitzpatrick said. “She loved knowing what people were doing and following up with them.”

Tim Jones was one of those students. The former Brother Rice high school student first met her in fall 2007 after he was injured in football, and his mom suggested he try out for a production of “Footloose” at McAuley. Despite the audition actually being callbacks, she handed him a lead role, and he started the lifelong student-teacher relationship with his “guiding light.”

He said he tries to have the patience she had with him with his kids — who are now taking the stage as dancers themselves, and had practice while working as a counselor for her summer camp years ago — because he wouldn’t have made it through high school otherwise.

“She always found the best in me when other people didn’t,” Jones said. “She made it feel like a home for all of us, it was an escape. … It kept me out of trouble.”

The 99th Street Summer Theatre Festival was another of her creations, though this brought people of all ages — including many former students — and reunited them with their passion.

“Not everyone makes it to Hollywood or Broadway,” said Jones, who now works in computer science. “And there’s nothing worse for an artist than to not be able to use those gifts, but she gave us that opportunity.”

Outside her work, she was an “even-keeled” mother with an “infectiously” positive personality, Fitzpatrick said. While she started on stage when she was just 3 years old — the two took trips to New York to watch Tony, Grammy and Emmy winner Audra McDonald whenever they got the chance — she said they also were close as a mother and daughter.

“I was lucky, I had the opportunity to have her as my mom but also as a director and teacher,” Fitzpatrick said. “[But] our relationship was more than just theater.”

Mrs. Haynes retired from Mother McAuley in 2015, but ended up starting a theater program at St. Linus School in Oak Lawn just a year later. She would put together the Christmas pageants and spring musicals, even attending the show after stepping away from the 2023 Christmas pageant due to her cancer.

Her daughter and grandson carry on her theater legacy; Fitzpatrick was a middle school drama teacher until Mrs. Haynes became sick, and her grandson Branden took the stage less than a week after her death to be in “Frozen Jr.” — the adult version of which they had seen together on Broadway just a few years ago.

“She was always trying to find a way to still be impactful,” Fitzpatrick said. “It was important to her to be there and show up. … I’m sure she’s smiling down now.”

She is survived by her daughter, two grandchildren, five siblings, nieces, nephews, grandnieces and a grandnephew.

Services have been held.