Rita Anne Brodie passed away on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. She died at home, peacefully and surrounded by family.  She was a wife, mother, grandmother, artist and teacher.  

Rita was born to Hubert James and Kathleen Golden Foy on Wednesday, April 5, 1939, in Sandpoint, Idaho. She had an older sister Donna Jean and a younger sister, Jacquita Kathleen.  Rita grew up in the Inland Empire region of the Pacific Northwest. She moved to Washington D.C. during the early 1970s. There, she fed her passion for the arts in general, and dance specifically.  In 1992, she returned to Spokane and married Doctor Thomas Brodie. A decade later, Rita and Tom moved to Las Vegas where they resided until June of 2022. Tom and Rita shared many common passions through the years, most notable of these passions were ballet and horses.

As a young girl, Rita  knew that she wanted to be a ballerina. Those who know Rita know that, when she put her mind to something, that specific something was going to happen. Rita convinced her parents to enroll her at a local dance studio. Years of dedication, practice, and training ensued. This dedication paid off when, in her early 20s, she was chosen as an apprentice for the First Chamber Dance Company. Rita apprenticed under the mentorship of  founder, Charles Bennett, whose mission was, "to bring dance into a more personal and immediate framework."

After her time with First Chamber Dance Company, Rita continued to train and to perform with various ballet companies, later opening her own ballet and performing arts studio. Rita choreographed full length ballets for her students who performed regionally, several times a year.  During Rita’s time in Washington D.C., she focused primarily on arts education. Through  the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, she was able to lend her expertise to the national Imagination Celebration festivals.  A federal program created to bring music, dance, and theater to school age children.

Rita’s performing arts experience eventually led to tenures at both Whitworth College and Gonzaga University.  During this time she worked to build strong ballet programs at both institutions. Rita trained hundreds of students and brought both original and traditional full-length ballets to Spokane audiences. Through this experience, Rita realized her dream and she and Tom  founded a local performing arts company: Conservatory Ballet Theater.  As the company's momentum grew, Rita recruited former friends and artists from Joffrey Ballet, NewYork City Ballet,  and even The Bolshoi Ballet to come to Spokane as guest artists, choreographers and performers. Rita, as always, was guided by the vision of her first mentor: “bringing dance into a more personal and immediate framework.” 

Rita was also an avid equestrian. She truly loved horses, the horse world, and the adventures and challenges that this lifestyle offered. Rita spent years training, traveling, and competing in dressage.  In 1980, she had a debilitating riding accident and was told she wouldn’t walk again. Rita thought otherwise and, after a year of intensive physical therapy, was back in the saddle and working to improve her skills. Rita suffered a life long hearing loss as a result of her accident. The courage and grace with which Rita responded to her injuries  and serious medical challenges was an inspiration to many.

Rita  was preceded in death by her parents Hubert and Kathleen Foy, her grandson Alexander James Rice,  her oldest sister, Donna Jeanne Helmer and her brother in law Garrison Bruso. She is survived by her husband Doctor Thomas Emery Brodie, her daughter Jacquita Kathleen Rogers, her sister Jacquita Kathleen Bruso, her brother in law, Kent Helmer,  grand daughter Jasmine Perez and great granddaughter, Nayeli Perez, as well as many beloved nieces, nephews, in-laws, and hundreds of former dance partners and students.

Please consider donating to Spokane Arts: https://spokanearts.org