Hazel Elizabeth Parrott's Obituary
Hazel Elizabeth Miska passed from this life on January 14, 2006 of natural causes in Tacoma, Washington, at the age of 93.She was born August 11, 1912 at home in Tacoma with her identical twin sister, Ruth (to whom she was always very close), to parents Mae and Robert Parrott.She left Tacoma at 18 to go to New York to further her formal training in dance, and subsequently danced professionally on the stage in theatres around the country throughout the 1930s and  40s. It was at one of these engagements that she met a professional violinist and member of the orchestra at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago, and she and Herbert Miska were subsequently married in Chicago on April 2, 1946. They made their home in Evanston, IL, where she lived for almost 50 years.Her greatest love outside her family was certainly dancing, and she taught ballet and several kinds of modern dance and dance exercise from a studio in her own home until she was in her late 80s to hundreds of students, many of whom will remember her fondly.During later life, she suffered from Primary Progressive Aphasia, a language disorder which made it increasingly difficult for her to communicate with others, but bore this with fortitude and a sense of humor. Sincere thanks are due to the kind staff at Franke Tobey Jones, where she spent her last several years, and to friend David Chung, whose care of and visits to Hazel are much appreciated by her family.She was preceded in death by her husband, Herbert, in 1986, by her brother Miles, and by her sister, Ruth.She is survived by her son, Robert Miles Miska (Kristine) of Salt Lake City, by her daughter, Ruth Lynn Winans (Douglas) of Madison, WI, by her grandsons, Paul Andrew Miska and James Robert Miska, both of Salt Lake City, and by Barbara Bullen, her loving and attentive stepdaughter.By her wishes, she was cremated in lieu of services.
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