Jessica L. Wood

Jessica was born to Lilly Fern Wood (Rush) and Charles H. Wood on December 24, 1951 in Monroe Michigan. She was a member of a very large extended family. Following her graduation from Monroe High School in 1970, she went on to obtain a bachelor’s degree in Dance at Western Michigan University graduating magnum cum laude and received additional recognition from the Lee Honors College for her Honors Thesis: Preparing for Auditions in 1974.

In 1976, she followed her mentor, Dr. T. Ray Faulkner from Western Michigan University into the graduate dance program at the University of Oregon, where she met her future husband, Ray Miller. In 1978, she graduated with honors in Dance and married Ray, and together they accepted positions at Western Oregon State College. Together, they developed the dance program adding courses in ballet, jazz and tap dance, choreography, dance history and education, and others. Their work was recognized by the State Board of Higher Education, when the Dance Minor program was approved.

They left in 1982 to pursue other professional interests: Jessica enrolled in the MFA program in Dance at Case Western Reserve University but soon decided to move to NYC to study with the celebrated modern dance choreographer, Erick Hawkins. She was drawn to the delicate beauty of his technique when his company performed while she was an undergraduate at Western Michigan University in 1971. While studying with him, she performed in NYC professional dance companies that were started by his former dancers -the Beverly Brown Dance Ensemble, and the Robert Yohn Playworks Dance Company. Before leaving NYC, Jessica received the imprimatur from Erick Hawkins to teach his dance technique professionally. This was a rare honor only granted to very few of his protegees.

In 1985, Jessica moved with her husband to Daytona Beach Community College, where she was the founding director for the dance program. Under her leadership, it developed into an Associate of Arts degree program in Dance. While there, one of her choreographies, “Carriers of the Sacred Dream,” brought regional recognition to the program when it was selected to be showcased at the Florida Dance Association Summer Dance Festival.

When her husband accepted to chair the theatre program at Georgia State University in 1989, Jessica enrolled in graduate studies in Anthropology, which prepared her for her acceptance the following year into the PhD in Dance Anthropology at Texas Woman’s University. Her PhD dissertation research involved documenting the White Mountain Apache Sunrise Dance, which she completed in 1996. She then served as the Director of the North Fulton Center of Reinhardt College from 1998 – 2005. When she moved to Boone, she taught in the Dance program and in the department of Anthropology until her retirement in 2023.

She is survived by her husband of nearly 50 years, Ray Miller, her daughter, Hali Wood-Miller, her sister-in-law Theresa Anne Miller of Rochester, NY, brother-in-law Don Miller (Stephy) and his wife, Mary Lou Miller, their daughter Bonnie Crouch and their granddaughter, JoJo Crouch of Lebanon, IN; as well as her cousins, who she thought of as her sisters, Rowena Pelczynski and her husband, Michael, and their son, Luke of Placerville, CA; Lisa Spainhower and her husband Tom Gregg of Highland, NY; and Susan Ewing and her husband Bruce and their children Dorian and Christoph of Knoxville, TN. She was preceded in death by her parents and daughter, Dylan Wood-Miller (stillborn).

Her life is best summed up by this statement from her nephew Luke, reflecting on how he “always wondered in amazement how Jessica was able to glide and navigate this life with a mysterious and quiet swagger of kindness and beauty.” Amen.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or the Watauga Humane Society.

A vigil will be held on Monday, August 24, 2026 from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM at the Austin & Barnes Funeral Home Chapel. A Funeral Mass will be held at Grace Lutheran Church on Tuesday, August 25, 2026 at 11:00 AM. Interment to follow at Mount Lawn Memorial Park & Gardens.

Online condolences may be made to www.austinandbarnesfuneralhome.com

Austin & Barnes Funeral Home and Crematory is serving the Wood family.

This is a video recording of an interview that Jessica and her husband did with theatre faculty member, Derek Gagnier, promoting the dances they choreographed for the dance concert at Appstate right before the pandemic. In it, you can see how composed and enthusiastic Jessica is when talking about this reconstructed dance of her mentor, Erick Hawkins, who inspired her life long interest in dance.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=206263246937918

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