Florence Voss, nee Kaup, passed away Monday, June 19, 2006, age 93. Resident of Mequon, formerly of the North Shore of Chicago. Beloved wife of the late Howard Voss; loving mother of Rana (William) Holbrook; stepmother of the late Howard Voss Jr.; proud grandmother of Alexa and Cory Hatton, Karen Voss, Andrew (Amy) Voss and Kim (Scott) Matthes; dear sister of Paul and the late Richard Kaup; special friend of McLean and Andrews Holbrook. Also survived by six great-grandchildren. Florence was a teacher of classical ballet with her own school in Winnetka, IL. She began her professional career at age 17, moving from Chicago to NYC and joining a professional ballet company. At age 21, she (known as Florance Kope) spent several years as a soloist touring Europe, dancing in places such as Paris, Berlin, Venice, the Colliseum in Verona, Dubrovnik and the Cote d’Azur. Her beautifully handmade costumes were designed by famous Parisian costumers. After dancing to the likes of Prince Edward and Wallace Simpson, Prince Aage of Denmark and other international gliteratti, she returned to the U.S., working throughout the East, Midwest and Canada. Her stage career culminated in 1940 with her solo performance in the Broadway show, Higher and Higher, with Jack Haley and June Allison. Many knew her by her stage name, Sigrid Dagnie. She studied with Adolph Bolm and for many years with Walter Cameron and Bentley Stone in Chicago. Ann Barzel, the Chicago dance critic, was a close friend and colleague. At the age of 28, she entered the University of Chicago where she received her B.S. Degree and married the attorney, Howard Voss. She later worked with Miss Jessie Pocock in Evanston, IL, and by the early 50’s opened her own school, the Florence Voss School of Dance at the Winnetka Community House (later the Winnetka School of Dance). During the 30+ years of her school, she introduced thousands of children and women to the art of dance. She was able to attract many NYC Ballet principal dancers to her school to teach master classes. These included stars such as Melissa Hayden, John Kritza, Igor Youskevich, Maria Tallchief, Patricia McBride and husband, Jean-Pierre Bonnefous (who runs Chatauqua) and Edward Villella, who formed his own ballet company, the Miami City Ballet. The 60’s and 70’s saw many years of entertaining, also. Maria Tallchief and George Balanchine were dinner guests. One evening, the whole Joffrey Ballet Company arrived by bus to the family home in Glencoe after one of their performances. That evening was a bit sad as Robert Joffrey had just told his dancers that due to a lack of funding, the company would have to disband. After performances at Ravinia, whole companies would arrive at the family home, and many nights, danced til 3 or 4 a.m. Eddie Villella was always a houseguest while performing at the Auditorium or Ravinia. Florence and Howard also co-hosted a downtown party for Mikail Barishnikov after a performance at the Auditorium Theater. Florence was also a member of the Winnetka Congregational Church and the Winnetka Board of the Northwestern University Settlement House in Chicago. A private family Memorial Service will be held in Winnetka, IL. In lieu of flowers, memorials to the Aurora Visiting Nurse Association of Wisconsin, P.O. Box 370196, Milwaukee, WI 53237-9903 appreciated. Feerick Funeral Home, Shorewood, 414-962-8383
