Jennifer Martin

Jennifer Martin, a beloved professor, graceful dancer and choreographer, devoted wife, loving mother, and adoring grandmother, passed away peacefully on December 7, 2024, at the age of 79. Her life was a dance of elegance and joy, a legacy that will continue to inspire all who knew her. 

Born on July 11, 1945 in Wooster, Ohio, she attended Orrville High School in Orrville, Ohio, where she starred on defense on the Girls’ Basketball team and played trombone in the Marching Band and Jazz Ensemble. She majored in Physical Education and French at Bowling Green State University and went on to complete her MFA in Dance Choreography at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (where she met her husband, Howard). In 1971 she moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan for doctoral studies in Theatre with an emphasis in movement and theatrical choreography. In 1975 she and Howard took a joint faculty position in the Department of Communication and Theatre at the University of Iowa living for eight idyllic years in the college town of Iowa City. It was in Iowa that she gave birth to her two sons, Barclay and Alexander (aka Doozie). In 1982 Jennifer was invited by the illustrious Patricia McIlrath to join the faculty of Theatre at the University of Missouri - Kansas City as Hallmark Professor of Theatre and to serve as choreographer-in-residence for the Missouri Repertory Theatre (now Kansas City Rep). For 25 years she delighted audiences with her choreography for the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival and for regional theaters across the USA. After retirement in 2013, Jen continued to follow her passion for gardening, floral arranging, choral singing, home making, and nurturing networks of artists, healers, and spiritual seekers. In a fruitful decade-long partnership with Dr. Marjorie Sirridge, she co-taught courses in Medical Humanities at the UMKC Medical School. Jennifer established a national reputation for teaching period styles of movement, earning her a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999 for her service to the American Theatre Association (ATA). But, oh, there was so much more. 

She is survived by her husband, Howard; her children, Barclay and Alexander "Doozie"; her daughter-in-law Ali Martin; her grandchildren Teo (3) and Milo (9 months); her siblings Dennis Lowe of Coshocton, Ohio, Lynda Berman Of Athens, Ohio, and Myra Leeper of Smithville, Ohio; and countless friends, family members, students, and colleagues who will carry forward her legacy of compassion and zest for life. She is preceded in death by her parents, Homer and Nadine Lowe, and her brothers Richard and Gerald. 

A celebration of Jennifer’s life will be held in early spring at Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village where she was a longtime member and sang in the choir. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to two not-for-profit organizations Jen held close to her heart and are led by her sons: Barclay’s The Wash Project (washproject.org) and Doozie’s Friends of the Dillon Ranger District (fdrd.org). 

Jennifer Martin’s life was a gift to all who knew her, and though she will be deeply missed, her spirit will continue to shine in every life she touched. She was beautiful in her living and beautiful in her dying. She is at home now in the tender care of Christ, the Eternal Beloved.