Friday, Jan. 28, 2005 | 8:26 a.m.
At a time when Las Vegas was viewed as little more than dice pits, neon lights and one-armed bandit slot machines, Joan Poole did her part as a member of a teenaged precision dance team to show the world a different side of the town.
Poole, who was born Joan Ochs, was a 1950 charter member of the Las Vegas High School Rhythmettes, who for 16 years gained fame as Las Vegas' goodwill ambassadors with appearances on the "Ed Sullivan Show," at Ebbits Field in Brooklyn at the New York World's Fair and on ABC's "Wide World of Sports."
But Poole's family said whatever fame Joan achieved as part of the first troupe of Rhythmettes that paved the way for future groups to travel and perform throughout the nation never went to her head.
"Being a Rhythmette did not define mom's life, but rather greatly influenced who she became," said her son, the Rev. David Poole, pastor of the Assembly of God Celebration Worship Center. "It was among her top five achievements, but she would say her faith and family were of far greater importance."
Joan Z. Poole, the daughter of the owners of Las Vegas' first trailer park in downtown Las Vegas and a gifted amateur operatic singer who performed as first soprano in local school and church choirs for several decades, died Jan. 19, a month after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She was 70.
Services for the native Las Vegan will be 1 p.m. Saturday at Calvary Community Assembly Church, 2900 N. Torrey Pines Drive.
Poole's family credited her Rhythmette coach, the late Evelyn Stuckey, with having a profound influence on Poole's formative years.
"My sister always would chuckle when Evelyn Stuckey's name was mentioned, calling her a taskmaster who demanded perfection, but, perhaps because of that, she thoroughly enjoyed being a Rhythmette," said Naomi Allgood of Tucson.
Bobbie Poole of Las Vegas said her mother also instilled in her three children the importance of faith and the arts -- and, like Stuckey, was a stickler for making sure they followed through on things they started.
Poole sang in choirs and ran child care centers at West Valley Assembly of God, which today is called the International Church of Las Vegas; Spring Valley Assembly of God; and Trinity Temple, which today is Trinity Life Center.
Her family says Poole's confidence to sing in public and to do much of what she accomplished in her lifetime can be traced to the lessons she learned as a Rhythmette.
Other Rhytmettes, upon learning of Ochs' death, said she was one of the originals who cleared the path for them to appear on national TV, in films and on stage, en route to capturing the hearts of America.
"She was a part of the history," said Terry Gialketsis, the former Terry Jeffers, a Rhythmette from 1954 to 1957. "The original group had no way of knowing that what they were doing would evolved into something much more sophisticated and special."
Gialketsis said Poole and the other charter members set the standards for what became the Rhythmettes motto: "Perfection in performance reflects perfection in living."
Janet Bond Gilman, a Rhythmette from 1952 to 1955, who had a 28-year career in government that culminated as a fraud investigator for the state's Employment Security Department, called the original 18 Rhythmettes "trailblazers."
"I certainly don't speak for all Rhythmettes, but, for me, being a Rhythmette did not define my life," Gilman said. "Rather, it enhanced it."
In his Aug. 12, 1955, column, late Sun publisher Hank Greenspun called the Rhythmettes, "a symbol of wholesomeness, goodness and character of a decent society."
Born March 21, 1934, Poole was the youngest of four children of Walter Ochs, a butcher, and the former Lulu Wyant, who was for many years manager of the Ochs Trailer Park at 12th and Fremont streets.
In 1949, as a freshman at Las Vegas High, Poole was a member of the school's Military Drill Team. Coached by Stuckey, it was the precursor of the Rhythmettes, performing to music ranging from bebop to waltzes. Poole also was a member of the Las Vegas High Choralettes, the school's choir.
After graduating from Las Vegas High in 1953, Poole attended the Glad Tidings Institute, which today is Bethany College in Scotts Valley, Calif.
During her lifetime, Poole worked as a bank clerk at First National Bank, which today is part of the Wells Fargo chain, and as a food server at cafeterias at local public schools and at UNLV.
In her later years, Poole ministered to a group of seniors known as the Prime Timers, leading them in Bible study and taking them shopping and to hospital appointments.
In addition to her son, daughter and sister, Poole is survived by her husband, Robert Poole of Las Vegas; another daughter, Diana Mosher of South Dayton, N.Y.; another sister Amanda Day of Delta, Col.; and five grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her brother, Wesley Ochs.
The family said donations can be made in Joan Poole's memory to the Assembly of God Celebration Worship Center, P.O. Box 750092, Las Vegas, NV 89136.
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