Virginia ‘Ginny’ Lathrop Bows Out At Age 94

 

“There is one person who has, for us, an abiding place at the very heart of Newtown’s character, just offstage a bit, with tapping toe, shining eyes, and a megawatt smile. It is Ginny Lathrop, who for 50 years now has inspired this town to do something fun with its great reserves of spirit. She quite literally has made this town get up and dance.”

— “A Defining Character,” Editorial Ink Drops,

Newtown Bee, February 2002.

Following a professional dance career that spanned 80 years, including performances in the United States and abroad, and a 58-year alliance with the families and children of Newtown who learned to dance under her inspiring and disciplined tutelage, Virginia Lathrop, 94, died in Newtown on Saturday, November 7, after a wonderful and joyful life.

Mrs Lathrop was born November 23, 1914, in Chelsea, Mass., to Elizabeth (Smith) and Frank Lee, one of nine children.

Her first dance steps were born of her generous nature, when the father of a little neighbor girl whom she befriended and accompanied to and from school gave her a dance step a week to memorize. By the time she was 16 years old, her dancing had become so proficient that her teacher encouraged her to audition for Gus Edwards, a famous talent scout of the time, known for his discovery of stars such as George Jessel, Eddie Cantor, Walter Winchell, and Hildegard. One of 5,000 who auditioned, Ginny Lee performed a stair dance and soon received a telegram from Mr Edwards: “Come to New York! I have plans!”

With her mother’s blessing, she joined the Gus Edwards Revue and traveled the circuit as part of the act.

It was through her agent that she met fellow dancer and performer Willis Lathrop McNabb, a/k/a Mack Lathrop, teaming up in short order to become “Lathrop and Lee,” a union that was not only to be in dance, but in life. The two were married in North Castle, N.Y., on May 19, 1937.

In 1936, dancer Fred Astaire recommended the tap dance duo of Lathrop and Lee to vaudeville entertainer Ed Sullivan, who was then looking for a sensational act to open Sullivan’s first Broadway show. He booked the dance act, one of the earlier highlights of a career that circled the globe, and that eventually found Mack and Ginny Lathrop appearing on The Kate Smith Show, and performing for the Truman Inaugural in Washington, D.C., in January 1949.

During travels between New York and Boston for their successful show business career, the Lathrops discovered Newtown in 1939, first renting, then settling here permanently for what they thought would be a retirement from show business. Their retirement was brief, and their second career as founders of the Lathrop School of Dance in 1951 began with an enrollment of 60 students, each paying just $1 for the privilege of dancing with the stars. It was the start of a union with the town and its people, resulting in a service to thousands of area youth, including multigenerations of families who learned the joy of dance from Mrs Lathrop and her husband.

Diane Wardenburg (“Miss Diane”) is one of many who has spent a lifetime hand-in-hand with the always enthusiastic and dedicated Ginny Lathrop.

“I started dancing with Mrs Lathrop as a 4-year-old,” recalled Miss Diane, who has served as the assistant director to the Lathrop School of Dance for more than 25 years now. “When I graduated from high school, she invited me to start teaching, which I did part-time through college, and then full-time. When you work with someone like Ginny, you are always getting an education.

“Ginny taught me and she taught all of her dancers love, energy, discipline, and joy. And she was always continuing her own dance education, right up until very recently. She once said to me, ‘When you stop learning, you begin to die.’”

She was a “giver beyond givers,” said Miss Diane, noting that when the Lathrops realized how popular the yearly Stardust Revue had become, they began donating a portion of each year’s ticket sales to support the Danbury Hospital Pediatrics Unit. “Since 1971, Lathrop School of Dance has donated over $35,000 to the hospital,” said Miss Diane.

Lesser known was Mrs Lathrop’s generosity to children with a passion for dance who were restricted from following that passion because of cost. Following Mr Lathrop’s death in February 1985, Mrs Lathrop founded the Mack Lathrop Memorial Scholarship, which is awarded annually through Newtown Scholarship Association.

“I was blessed with a dad and two moms,” said Miss Diane. “Ginny was my other mom.”

Her impact on the youngsters who danced for her was heartfelt, said those who knew her, and for many more than just Ms Wardenburg, it was a lifelong relationship.

“We were her family and she was ours,” said Linda Walker Uhde, whose love of dance began as a child at the Lathrop School of Dance and who continues to perform each year with the adult Stardusters, along with her sister, Darlene Spencer, and niece, Karla Spencer. “Not only was dancing her heart and soul, but so was every student in her school. Personally, I will miss her terribly. She will always be my dancing inspiration,” Ms Uhde said.

“To be her student was to be part of her family and no matter where you went in life, you were always part of her ‘dance family.’ She was an extraordinary person and I will miss her,” said Darlene Spencer.

“[Mrs Lathrop] was the reason I danced,” added Karla. “When I performed on stage, there could have been a full house in the audience, but all that mattered to me was that she was smiling from the stool where she sat off stage behind the curtain,” Karla said.

Sisters Mary Ann (Kayfus) Phillips and Jean Ann (Kayfus) Heise likewise grew up in Newtown and have danced with Lathrop School of Dance for 49 years.

“The person that kept me coming back was Ginny,” said Ms Heise. “She was our teacher, our mentor, our friend, and even our surrogate mother. Lathrop’s was not just a dance school, it was a family. When she was in a room there was a presence and style about her. She will remain forever in my heart.”

Mary Ann Phillips recalled the impact Mrs Lathrop had on her and the other dancers at the school. “She taught us discipline, and grace, and so much more. She transferred her love of dance to us,” said Ms Phillips.

Along with her obvious joy for the art of dancing, Mrs Lathrop loved life and the celebration of life. And a celebration without champagne was just not a celebration, according to her assistant director. “She told me once,” said Ms Wardenburg, “the four most important things in life are positive thinking, faith in God, blueberries, and champagne.”

Her own generosity brought out the generosity in others, as well. Jill and Mike Kerler knew Mrs Lathrop well, through their daughter Suzanne’s nine years’ involvement with the Lathrop School of Dance, and through Mr Kerler’s business. The owner of Sandy Hook Wine & Liquor, Mr Kerler took it upon himself to deliver the dance teacher’s favorite champagne directly to her doorstep.

“What I do know,” said Ms Kerler, “is that there are a lot of upset little girls in town today….”

“Ginny had a way of embracing life,” said Jerry DeLuccio, her nonbiological “son” and close friend. “She felt an obligation to bring out the best in those around her, and create a loving and positive atmosphere that has people fulfilling their best selves and passing it on. That will, in the end, be her greatest legacy.”

“Ever since 1961, the year Helen and I moved back to Newtown,” remembered Newtown Bee publisher Scudder Smith, “Ginny Lathrop has been a part of our lives. I have attended and covered more Stardust Revues than I can remember, we have seen our daughter [Sherri] through dancing school, and we toasted many New Year’s Days with Mack and Ginny at their Main Street home. We even went to their ballroom dancing classes, trying hard to follow the Lathrops’ perfect steps. She has won the hearts of young and old, and we will fondly remember those times we spent with her, clinking glasses of champagne and enjoying her company.”

She will be dearly remembered, said Sherri Smith Baggett. “Having been a part of Ginny’s life for over 45 years, I love and admire Ginny for who she is. Throughout my entire life, I have always seen her being herself, never pretending to be someone else and not afraid of what another person thought of her. Ginny’s actions spoke for who she was and the wonderful qualities she possessed. Her large extended family in Newtown and beyond will miss her dearly, but we’ll always smile when thinking of her or hearing her name. Her legacy will live on through the hundreds of children’s’ lives she has touched,” Ms Baggett said.

The Lathrop School of Dance presented its 57th Stardust Revue in June, once more filling the Edmond Town Hall Theatre for all five performances, and once again receiving rave reviews. As always, it was, as Marni Wood noted in the June 15, 1973, issue of The Newtown Bee, “…the performers seemed to be having a good time and were sharing it with a most appreciative audience…. That may be one of the most important things Ginny and Mack Lathrop have taught the youngsters — that there is fun and gaiety behind all the hard work.”

Mrs Lathrop’s hard work was recognized this fall when the Lathrop School of Dance was honored with the 2009 Labor Day Parade Legends & Pioneers Award. Her appearance in the parade was to be her last public appearance, but not her final input into the school she loved so much.

“Even as recently as this past Wednesday,” said Miss Diane, “she was looking over costumes and making decisions. Her heritage and spirit will go on in the Lathrop School of Dance, and I will carry on what Mrs Lathrop so intentionally and deliberately passed on these past many years. Those countless friends who supported the school behind the scenes and the students who provide its life move forward together, keeping her spirit alive.”

Former dance student Megan Sajovic offered words of consolation to those feeling the loss of Ginny Lathrop this week: “All Lathrop dancers past and present need to remember that the sky needed another star. And who better to fill it than a Starduster?”

“I know that she will still be there at our recital [this coming June],” Karla Spencer said. Her spirit, said her friends, will be ever present. Now Virginia Lathrop can take her husband’s advice that she passed on to this year’s 2009 Stardust Revue audience: “Sit back, relax, and point with pride as you watch the students perform for you.”

Along with her family of dancers and many other friends, a niece, Barbie Lee, and her great-niece, Ali Janaveris, both of Swampscott, Mass., survive Mrs Lathrop.

Funeral services for Mrs Lathrop were held Wednesday, November 11, at noon, in St Rose of Lima Catholic Church, with Monsignor Robert Weiss officiating. Musical selections included “Lord of the Dance” by organist Nancy Caron; “Prayer of St Francis” sung by Ali Janaveris; “God Bless America” sung by Colby Caron; and “Stardust” performed by Ali Ryerson on flute. Joel Wardenburg, Dr Robert Grossman, and Jerry DeLuccio offered remarks of remembrance. Readings were from 2 Corinthians 9: 6–11; Psalm 150; and John 15: 9–17. Interment followed in Newtown Village Cemetery.

Donations in Mrs Lathrop’s memory may be made to Newtown Scholarship Association, PO Box 302, Newtown CT 06470; or Danbury Hospital Department of Pediatrics, 24 Hospital Avenue, Danbury CT 06810.