Patsy Weinman's late mother, Jane Kress Joffre, grew up in Russia, where she learned to love ballet but never had the chance to perform it herself. However, after immigrating to America, marrying and starting a family, she seized that opportunity for her daughter.
When Patsy showed an interest in dance while practically a toddler, her mother made it a family priority that Patsy got years of instruction with the late Atlanta dance master Lottie Hentschel. Mrs. Joffre even saw to it that Patsy went to New York City for several summers to study at the American School of Ballet.
"Our family didn't have a lot of money," said her brother, Lyonel Joffre of Atlanta, "but Patsy was able to continue her instruction in New York by staying with a relative who lived near the dance school there."
Dance was just as central to her life once she became an adult. During the 1940s and 1950s she performed with the Southern Ballet, the Atlanta Opera and Theater Under the Stars. For a number of years, she taught dance to children, including free instruction to underprivileged youngsters. And she and her husband, Milton Weinman, cut quite a figure on Atlanta's ballroom floors for decades.
"Patsy and Milton put you in mind of Fred and Ginger," said her cousin, Pauline DeNur of Dallas. "Patsy was a professional dancer and taught Milton everything she knew about dancing."
In the late 1940s Mrs. Weinman began teaching at her own studios in Marietta and Lawrenceville. "Mother could drive Patsy to Marietta, but Lawrenceville was another story," Mr. Joffre said. "The roads out there were nowhere as good, and our parents worried about her driving there herself. So she regularly took a Greyhound bus to and from Lawrenceville so she could teach there."
One of her pupils from that period, Jo Ann Yancey Smith of Lawrenceville, said she and her fellow second-, third- and fourth-grade girls idolized Mrs. Weinman. "Not only was she an accomplished dancer, she was beautiful," she said.
Mrs. Weinman taught tap dancing, gymnastics and especially ballet. "The five positions," Mrs. Smith said, "everything basic that little children learn about ballet."
Patsy Corrine Joffre Weinman, 81, died Thursday at her Atlanta home of complications from Parkinson's disease. A graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Greenwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in her memory be made to the William Breman Jewish Home, 3150 Howell Mill Road N.W., Atlanta, GA 30327-2199. Dressler's Jewish Funeral Care is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Weinman produced numerous fund-raising shows for Ahavath Achim Synagogue, Haddasah, B'nai B'rith and the William Breman Jewish Home. "The productions were basically variety shows," said Virginia Saul of Atlanta, "but they all had a theme such as one entitled ‘I'm Just Wild About Harry,' which focused on a former rabbi by that name."
Mrs. DeNur said her cousin was a splendid hostess. "Patsy could throw a party for 50 people with ease and grace. She served wonderful food and set a beautiful table.
"The fact is, Patsy excelled at everything she set her mind to. I credit that to the discipline she acquired as a dance student," Mrs. DeNur added.
Survivors also include her husband, Milton Weinman; two daughters, Sherry Weinman of Los Angeles and Amy Harris of Atlanta; a son, Dr. Richard Weinman of Atlanta; four grandchildren; three step-grandchildren; and three step-great-grandchildren.
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