Vivian Smith-Shiers, born May 21, 1918 to Otto and Caro Schmidt, reached her 101st birthday before passing away peacefully in her sleep at her home on May 30, 2019.
Raised in Lakewood, Ohio, Vivian had such talent and good ballet training that at 16 she was the first American invited to join the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, with which she toured the world from 1934 to 1937. She then joined the Corps de Ballet at Radio City Music Hall, where she met her future husband, Paul Shiers, who was in the Glee Club. They were married in 1940 at The Little Church Around the Corner, and celebrated 67 years together before his death in 2007.
After Radio City, they both were in the original cast of “Oklahoma!,” with Vivian not only a dancer (she was one of Jud Fry’s dance hall girls), but also assistant to choreographer Agnes de Mille.
With Paul as stage manager and Vivian as dance director, they went on the road with “Show Boat,” bringing along their first daughter, Linda, born in 1945.
Vivian was assistant to choreographer Ron Fletcher in “Top Banana” and to Herb Ross in “House of Flowers” on Broadway, “Carmen Jones” on film, and after her stage work, on such television shows as the Milton Berle, Martha Raye, and Patti Page shows.
After daughter Diana was born in 1958, Vivian left her dance career, but worked as a television extra on soap operas, and as a print model.
Vivian continued using her dance and choreographic talents in productions for Paul’s local glee club, their church’s social club, both girls’ schools, and a friend’s Bicentennial revue.
Vivian was always active and up for a physical or mental challenge. She enjoyed hiking, fishing, horseshoes, rowing, and riding, and puzzles and games of all kinds. When she and Paul discovered an idyllic spot in the Adirondacks in 1956, they spent the rest of their lives in enjoyment of those activities, the land and the friends they made there.
Vivian loved to read, especially books on archeology, her second love after dance. Although even as a girl she would rather dance than eat, she became a great cook and pie baker, following many recipes of her mother’s. Vivian did not learn to sew from her mother, a talented costume designer and seamstress, but rather taught herself later in life, feeling her mother’s guidance in spirit. She learned to knit and was creative and adept at mending and alterations.
Vivian made beautiful valentines using desk blotters and doilies, an art she learned from her mother and passed down to her daughters. She looked at everything with an artist’s eye, whether the color of light or angles of an old barn. She loved to draw and do watercolors, and later in life, when Alzheimer’s compromised her abilities, she still did lovely coloring in different media.
Vivian loved to drive, at which she excelled. When she was dating as a teenager, her dates’ fathers were thrilled when their cars came back with empty tanks because they knew their sons had been out with Vivian, practicing starting up on hills. She could drive anywhere, in any conditions, and put many miles on the car driving Diana and her friends around to games and activities.
A great fan of baseball, Vivian was glued to the radio during the ‘69 World Series, thrilled her Mets won at last.
She loved all weather, from sunny sunbathing days (“no tan lines,” reports her family) to new snowfall—“even though she knew there was shoveling ahead.”
Vivian was confirmed as a Lutheran when Diana was involved in a Lutheran education and choirs, through which she developed a closer relationship with Christ that sustained her the rest of her life.
In 1986, when she and Paul moved from Queens, N.Y. to Park Ridge, his home town, they joined the Reformed Church, which had been his family’s church for many years. They formed strong and lasting relationships at both churches that enriched their lives.
Vivian recognized that she’d led a blessed life and was grateful for the talents and opportunities she’d been given, and the wonderful experiences that resulted. She was thankful for her wonderful family and cherished friends.
In the Ballets Russes, every dancer was given a Russian name. Hers was Radova, a derivative of the Russian word for happy, because of her sparkling personality.
She was a good sport, and will be remembered for her joy of life, sweet and generous disposition, quick and devilish sense of humor, tenacity, and incredible blue eyes. She was a loving and wonderful daughter, wife, mother and friend.
Vivian is predeceased by her husband Paul and daughter Linda. She is survived by her daughter Diana (Sean McCoy), and granddaughter Aimie Hanlon (Tim) and great-grandchildren Tyler and Kaley.
