Joanne Rae McGhee

Darien

Joanne Rae McGhee, 87, of Darien, died Saturday, May 24, 2014, at Hospice of the Golden Isles in Brunswick. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 A.M. Friday, May 30, 2014, at The Episcopal Church of St. Andrew in Darien, with The Very Rev. Ted Clarkson officiating. A reception will follow in the St. Andrews Parish Hall after the service. Visitation will be in the Parish Hall on Thursday, May 29, 2014 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Born August 28, 1926 in Atlanta, Georgia to the late Otis Ott and Nell Griffin Rae, Mrs. McGhee received an A.B. in Physical Education and Dance from Duke University in 1948 and an M.A. in Music and Music Education from Georgia State University in 1975. She studied dance at the N.Y.U. Connecticut College of Modern Dance and Black Mountain College; her teachers included Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Merce Cunningham, Katherine Litz, and Alwin Nikolais. She was the co-founder of the Atlanta Contemporary Dance Company, touring throughout the United States for the National Endowment for the Arts. She danced with the Doris Humphrey Repertory Dance Company and was a guest artist with the Atlanta Ballet. She was the Founding Artistic Director of The Dancers Collective, which brought major artists and dance companies to Atlanta from 1983. She taught dance at primary and secondary schools and colleges, including Spelman College and Georgia State University, where she was an Artist-in-Residence and adjunct professor from 1959 until her retirement in 2002 and director of choreography for the Harrower Opera Workshop.

Mrs. McGhee was a member of the Georgia Association of Art Educators, the Committee on Dance Certification for Georgia, the Dance Committee of the Fulton County Arts Council, Performing Arts Chairman for the Arts Festival of Atlanta, and secretary of the Mayors Ad Hoc Committee for the Arts. She directed and choreographed Christmas Pageants for St. Andrews Episcopal Church and the McIntosh Academy High School Band, and for Georgia Public Television. She received the Governor’s Award in the Arts in 1984, and the Lexus Leader of the Arts award in 2000.

After retiring from Georgia State, she moved to Darien and she and her late husband, Glover McGhee, spent the last 15 years living in Coastal Georgia. A member of St. Andrews Episcopal Church, she was active in numerous hobbies including scuba diving, wine making, beekeeping, and carpentry.
In addition to her parents and her husband of 62 years, Mrs. McGhee was preceded in death by a daughter, Janelle. Survivors include a daughter, Martha McGhee Glisson and husband Rick, of Atlanta, two grandchildren, Daniel Glisson and JoAnne Glisson Rusch, and a great-grandchild, Jace Bishop Glisson.

In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to Hospice of the Golden Isles, 1692 Glynco Pkwy, Brunswick, GA 31525.

Bradley B. Anderson Funeral and Low Country Cremation Services are serving the McGhee family.