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Jean Reis connected kids to arts Another passion was Music Hall By Chris Mayhew HYDE PARK - Friends say Jean Scherer Reis had an intense love of the arts and helped put tickets to the symphony or the ballet in children's hands. Ms. Reis, a former trustee and vice president of the Corbett Foundation, died Thursday at Dupree Community in Hyde Park. A longtime resident of Hyde Park, she was 79. "She had a passion for the arts and bringing kids to the arts," said Karen McKim, executive director of the Corbett Foundation since 1989. |
Ms. Reis' focus while with the foundation was on arts education, by letting kids come in contact with the orchestra and the ballet, McKim said.
"She used her muscle as a trustee of the Corbett foundation to establish AAAE (Association for the Advancement of Arts Education), which brought arts into the classroom," McKim said.
Ms. Reis started with the Corbett Foundation as a part-time secretary to J. Ralph Corbett in 1974. She soon became the full-time secretary for the foundation.
In 1982, Ms. Reis became a trustee and vice president for the foundation. She retired in 1989.
"She was not at all a calm person. She felt very intensely when she believed in something and would fight to the end to get her way on something," McKim said. "She was very vibrant, and had a laugh you could hear all over the room - even in a crowded theater."
Her other love was Music Hall and the Cincinnati Pops.
"She was so convinced that Erich Kunzel, and the Cincinnati Pops was one of the great treasures of Cincinnati that she talked him into some of the first Pops programs that were made for public television," McKim said.
The Corbett Foundation helped to finance some of the first Cincinnati Pops holiday concerts through Ms. Reis' guidance.
"She was a wonderful lady who helped us so much in the early stages of our TV shows, and she loved the orchestra very much," said Kunzel, the Pops conductor.
With her friend Joyce VanWye of Terrace Park, Ms. Reis co-founded the Society for the Preservation of Music Hall.
"We thought that Music Hall, which is owned by the city, needed some help because there was never enough money to fix it up," said VanWye, who was in charge of the ticket office for the Cincinnati Opera for 18 years.
"The opera, the Pops and the symphony all had help," she said. "We thought the building should have help, too."
Surviving are a son, James Jay Reis of North Carolina; two daughters, Julie Reis Sutton of Grosse Pointe, Mich., and Susan Reis Valentine of Durham, N.C.; and two grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at a later date. Ms. Reis' remains will be cremated. Swindler & Currin Funeral Home in Covington is handling arrangements.
Memorials: Society for the Preservation of Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.
Jean Reis, classical music lover
Uncredited
The Cincinnati Post
August 29, 2003
Although she didn't play a musical instrument herself, Jean Scherer Reis loved classical music.
Whenever Music Hall opened its doors, you could usually find her there, said friend and adviser Charles Stephens.
The Hyde Park resident always had her car radio tuned to WGUC, which plays classical music. "I don't think it would play on any other station," Stephens said.
Ms. Reis, who died Thursday at 79, was a longtime supporter of the arts community in Cincinnati. She co-founded the Society for the Preservation of Music Hall, and served on the boards of other arts organizations.
In 1974, she became secretary to philanthropist J. Ralph Corbett. Ms. Reis became a member of the board of trustees for the Corbett Foundation, and also its executive director.
Founded in 1955 by Corbett and his wife, Patricia, the foundation has since contributed millions of dollars to local arts organizations.
In 1996, the foundation created the $2 million Jean S. Reis Endowment for technical theater at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Ms. Reis was the vice president of the foundation endowment at the time.
She is survived by a son, James Jay Reis of North Carolina, daughters, Julie Reis Sutton of Grosse Pointe, Mich., and Susan Reis Valentine of Durham, N.C.; and two grandchildren.
There will be a memorial service at Hillside Chapel in Cincinnati at a later date. The body was cremated. Swindler and Currin Funeral Home in Latonia is in charge of arrangements.
Memorials are suggested to the Society for the Preservation of Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. *