Marjorie "Jayne" Poor

Marjorie "Jayne" Poor, longtime Professor of Dance at Rockford College, died Thursday, September 19, just a few weeks before her 90th birthday. She was born October 9, 1923, in Streator, IL, daughter of Alpha and Clara (Fish) Poor. Jayne began to study dance in Streator with Rosalind Hupp when she was 8 years old.
Before coming to Rockford College in 1954 she earned degrees from Stevens College, the University of Colorado, and a Masters Degree in dance at the University of Wisconsin. During 1945 and 1946 she toured Europe with the USO. As a dance instructor and choreographer at Rockford College, she continued to study with major dance figures in America and Europe. Her lifelong passion for learning made her an inveterate world traveler. In 1956 she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Berlin with Mary Wigman, a pioneer of Modern Dance. Jayne was a major contributor to the Arts in Rockford. One of her largest efforts was as founding co-artistic director of the Rockford Dance Company with Chuck Hoenes. The company and its school in Riverfront Museum Park will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year. She also encouraged and was an advisor to Without Shoes, Rockford's Modern dance company. In addition to serving on the dance panel of the Illinois Arts Council, she was on the boards of the Association of Illinois Dance Companies and the Rockford Arts Council. She collaborated on dance programming with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra, the Mendelsohn Club, the Women's Club, Rock Valley College, Rockford College Uncommon Lives Program, and the Second Congregational, Unitarian, and First Presbyterian Churches. In 2003 she received the Mayor's Arts Award. Besides her dance interests, she was a member of the Second Congregational Church Bell Choir, and a long-time member of a poetry reading group organized by the late Mildred Berry and friends in 1987.
A fountain of information on all forms of dance, she will be long remembered by the many dancers who are proud to have been her students and friends. Many of these students accompanied her on trips to New York City where they visited studios, took master classes, met with professionals, and attended dance and theater performances. In the last years of her life, she was blessed to have received extraordinary care from former students, friends, and colleagues.
A memorial service will be held at Fisher Chapel on the Rockford University campus at 11 AM on Saturday, October 19, followed by a reception. Memorials to the Rockford Dance Company, 711 North Main Street, Rockford, IL 61103, or to the Dance Program at Rockford University, 5050 East State Street, Rockford, IL 61108. Arrangements entrusted to Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory.