I was born January 10, 1928 in Chicago, where I spent most of my early years. The times back then were hard and I really owe gratitudeto my great aunt who was a star in the silent movies. She encouraged me to take dance lessons so she arranged and made provision for me--and that was the beginning of my journey. I loved dancing, it was all I ever wanted to do as I was growing up. Because my father’s job moved him around, we traveled a lot. I took dance lessons whenever I could…St. Louis, Arkansas, Lincoln, Omaha, and back to Chicago. At one point, when we lived in Omaha, I would babysit to earn 50 cents so I could take a dance class. I danced with a dance troupe and performed around the Midwest over the summer. When we moved back to Chicago a girlfriend and I took classes together, and we did some shows. We auditioned for the USO and we both made it! Unfortunately, my father would not sign the papers. You can imagine my disappointment. We moved back to Omaha where I graduated from Tech High in 1946. I took up classes again and did a few shows in Omaha. I met my husband Jack at a dance where he had just come back from the war. He was a great dancer and we really hit it off. We would go dancing all the time and were asked to perform at special functions and clubs and to this day we both still enjoy dancing together.
