Memorials & Obituaries
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Dottie Dunston School of Dance and Baton
Dottie Dunston: A Jersey Shore Original Dorothy "Dottie" Dunston was one of the most influential baton twirling instructors on the Jersey Shore during the Golden Age of baton twirling. A performer, teacher, judge, pageant director, and school owner, Dunston spent...
Old Forge’s First Miss Devilette Has Passed Away
Maryann Beseda Brigido, the original "Miss Devilette" of Old Forge High School, Pennsylvani, has passed away at the age of 87. Her death marks the loss of the first performer to hold a title that has come to define Friday night halftime shows in the small Lackawanna...
Florence Iva Begay: Navajo Majorette Faced Jim Crow
Florence Iva Begay, a Navajo baton twirler and high school valedictorian from Flagstaff, Arizona, became the subject of national attention in 1948 after an incident on a bus in the Texas Panhandle exposed the realities of segregation faced by Native Americans...
Memorial: Tina Ruizsoriano (nee Escamia)
The former University of Oklahoma feature twirler died after a brief, but fierce battle with breast cancer at age 48. Tina Marie Ruizsoriano (nee Escamia),48, of Mission TX, passed away on 25 May 2025 in San Antonio after a brief but fierce battle with breast cancer....
Diane Remy Baton Twirlers – Sheboygan, Wisconsin (1981)
Students from the Diane Remy School of Dance and Baton stand in front of a wood-paneled station wagon before the Memorial Day Parade, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, 1981. Diane Remy (1938-2024) Obituary Diana Veronica Remy (Diane Remy), age 85, passed away at her home on May...
Dottie Grover: Syracuse’s Legendary Baton Girl (1929-2019)
Dorothy "Dottie" Grover, the Syracuse University Baton Girl whose performances captivated football crowds from 1949-1953, was one of the most recognizable collegiate twirlers of her era. She died just five years ago, on October 10, 2019. She was 90. For generations...
Photo Epigraph
Marsha Anne Cox, Baton Twirler and Dancing Marvel | Mound City, Kansas, c. 1946
HAVE YOU NOTICED HOW BATON TWIRLING ALWAYS MAKES IT INTO SOMEONE’S OBITUARY?
Marsha Anne Cox Dieker, 80, of Upper Arlington, Ohio, passed away on Wednesday, December 15, 2021. She was born on April 12, 1941, in Fort Scott, Kansas, and was married for 44 years to her loving husband, Lawrence L. Dieker, who preceded her in death in 2005. As a child, Marsha enjoyed performing in dance and baton competitions…