RANDOLPH, Kathryn York - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

Mrs. Kathryn Randolph, dean of Danville dramatists, died at 6:56 p.m. Tuesday (March 5, 1968) at Lake View Memorial Hospital. She had been ill 10 days and hospitalized a week. In a professional career that spanned more than half a century, Mrs. Randolph was identified with the stage in many ways. From participating in dramatics in college, she became a member of the Redpath Chautauqua group, traveling for six years, meeting and working with such famous personages as William Jennings Bryan and sculptor Lorado Taft. Her own program involved organizing children of communities visited into pageants based on fairy tales. Marriage and a family relegated dramatics to a secondary role. But following the death in 1932 of her husband, Glen Randolph, owner of business supply and equipment store in downtown Danville, she resumed her career. Her success in teaching children privately led to wider public identification as dramatics director for the municipal recreation department’s summer parks program. Mrs. Randolph's reputation as one of the earliest — and most effective — promoters of the little theater movement in the Midwest was unquestioned. North Dakota State College, her alma mater, assigned her as dramatic coach for one of its first performances. Her knowledge, experience and enthusiasm are credited largely for the founding of Red Mask Players in 1936. She was a member of the first executive committee, directed all the plays produced by the community organization to date, and, at her death, was an ex-officio of directors. Millie Trares Schaefer, wife and lifetime member of the board of the celebrated TV producer and director, George Schaefer, and a talented actress in her own right, was one of her students. Both Dick Van Dyke and his brother, Jerry, now internationally known, made their out-of-school stage debuts under her direction. When Red Mask acquired a building of its own, the name chosen for it by acclaim was "Kathryn Randolph Theater." She was honored in 1955 when the theater group adopted the annual custom of recognizing best performances by an actor and actress. The trophies, formally known as the Kathryn Randolph Awards, became "Katies," after the manner of Hollywood "Oscars.” In 1961, she was guest of honor at the silver anniversary observance of Red Mask, and again in 1966 on the 30th birthday celebration. The highlight was the unveiling of an oil photo-portrait of Mrs. Randolph which now hangs in the theater lobby. In announcing the presentation, the banquet toastmaster said: "One picture is worth a thousand words. And one picture which tells the story of Red Mask Players better than a thousand other pictures is this." Mrs. Randolph directed plays given by Methodist youth at St. James Church, of which she was a member, and at St. Patrick's School, and for several years had been dramatics director of Schlarman High School. Her WDAN program, "Kathryn Randolph Presents," became a radio tradition. In January, she directed a children's play, using Red Mask adult members, for the Association for Childhood Education at Danville High School. She also taught classes in social behavior to new nursing school students at both Lake View and St. Elizabeth hospitals. In 1945, she was chosen "Woman of the Year" by the Business and Professional Women's Club. A native of Ridgefarm, she was born March 10, 1890, daughter of William and Alice Lewis York. She had lived in Danville approximately a half century, residing at 111 E. Winter Ave. the past 45 years. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by two brothers and a sister. Surviving are a son, Henry G. (Jack) Randolph of Houston, Tex.; two daughters, Mrs. Tom (Jean) Lewis of Danville and Mrs. Freeman (Joan) Jackson of Atlanta, Ga., and six grandchildren. Pape Memorial Home is in charge of arrangements. Visiting hours will be 2 to 9 p.m. Thursday. Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at St. James, with the Rev. C. Earl Livengood, associate minister, and the Rev C. B. Motsett, pastor of St. Paul's Catholic Church, officiating. Burial will be in Spring Hill Cemetery.   --typed by Walt W