A local dancer who instructed thousands of students in tap, ballet and jazz for more than 60 years has died.
Naomi Heiney, who went by her stage name of Jean Shepherd, died early Thursday at Bath Manor Special Care Center. She was 93.
Mrs. Shepherd was the owner of the Jean Shepherd Dance Studio, which had several locations in the Akron area until she retired in 2005 after more than six decades in the business.
Mrs. Shepherd had been dancing since she was a young child. By age 9, her father cleared out an area in their living room for her to run her own studio.
“Her life was teaching students to dance, and she was so good at it,” said Florence Riazian, who took her daughter to Mrs. Shepherd’s studio in the early 1990s and had visited her regularly ever since.
Mrs. Shepherd danced her entire life, working her way around the country and performing in cities from Hollywood to Miami to New York City.
She worked diligently with children, taking them in as soon as they could stand on their feet by themselves.
She also worked with low-income children who couldn’t afford lessons, as well as children with physical and learning disabilities.
“She loved to teach children, and she gave them poise and assurance,” said Barbara Uhall, Mrs. Shepherd’s attorney for the past 36 years. “She thought dancing would make everyone happy.”
Near the end of her life, she could be found at Bath Manor practicing tap steps in her wheelchair almost everyday. She taught others in the nursing home how to practice their steps as well.
She even organized the Bath Manor Follies, composed of fellow residents in the nursing home, and put on a production back in 2010.
Mrs. Shepherd was an avid performer through many mediums, though dancing was preferred. She worked with Warner Bros. in Hollywood under contract during her teen years after she sneaked into the studio and convinced them to watch her audition.
She also choreographed a number of Broadway productions, including Wuthering Heights, as well as many musicals at the Akron Goodyear Community Theater. She also dabbled in acting and radio and was inducted into the Akron Radio Hall of Fame in 1996.
“She just wanted people to be able to dance and have a way to express themselves,” said Maryam Riazian, who was a student of Mrs. Shepherd’s from the age of 2 until she went to college in 2005. “Money didn’t matter to her.”
Mrs. Shepherd is survived by her many friends and thousands of students she’d taught over the years. She was proceeded in death by her husband, Bill.
Services for Mrs. Shepherd will be held in February at the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Lake Township.
Theresa Cottom can be reached at 330-996-3216 or tcottom@thebeaconjournal.com.