Bess Ring Koval, long time resident of Cortland, NY and professor at SUNY passed away May 25, 2023.  Born February 19, 1928 on a dairy farm with 240 acres of orchards in Conneaut, Ohio, Bess was the 3rd of 9 children of Milton A Ring and Leonarda Fox Ring. It was there that she developed her "dairy farm work ethic."

Bess decided to pursue a career in dance when she was at The Ohio State University.  She had a BS from The Ohio State University and a MFA from the Woman's College, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina. Additional studies in modern dance included Martha Graham's summer school and New London Connecticut School of Dance. A few of the many folk dance camps, conferences and workshops she attended included Jane Farwell's Mt. Horeb Christmas camp, Michael and Mary Ann Herman's Maine camp, Dick Crumb' Kolo Thanksgiving Weekend, Family Dance Camp in Nova Scotia, First International Festival in Budapest, Hungary, Ralph Page's Maine camps and Blue Star camp in North Carolina.

Bess' teaching assignments included graduate assistantships at the The Ohio State University campus school and Woman's College, Greensboro, NC, plus a dance instructor at University of Puerto Rico, Kent State University and full professorship at the State University New York (SUNY) of Cortland from 1961-1991.

While at SUNY, outside of her teaching assignments, she fielded a ballroom dance formation team for 20 years that took college students to international competitions in Blackpool, England, Edinburg, Scotland, Hamburg, Germany as well as domestically in Boston, Massachusetts, Rochester, NY, Cherry Hill, New Jersey and Houston, Texas. Known as BK by her students, hundreds of them went on to pursue dance professionally or recreationally due to her influence.

She presented numerous conference programs of the American Alliance of Health Physical Education Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) at the national level, the Eastern District (EDA), and the New York State Alliance of Health Physical Education and Dance (NYSAHPERD), plus the International Conference in Seoul, Korea, and the Virgin Island Conference in St. Croix.

After the dance program was eliminated at SUNY Cortland, she continued to teach classes at Cornell, the Murray Center, Adult BOCES, and The Center for the Arts of Homer.   She conducted private couple and group classes at her private dance studio and took much joy in choreographing wedding dances.

Under the umbrella Dance-A-Peas, she produced educational friendly dance/play products, Pages of Dance, Wherever You Are ... Dance With Us, a video of 6 folk dances, narrated by Cortland children plus a CD of music for the dances; Sticks and Stones, a book with patterns illustrated with the BKS&S notation system for playing with sticks and stones, activities from Hawaii and Ghana; LocoMotoring, a workbook with accessories to recognize and execute footwork of basic locomotion.

Her writings and other materials include; Dance ... Miss Ball Set the Stage at Normal School - Is the Curtain Closing, is a history of dance (1923? - 1991) at SUNY; Dance Teams and Me, the history of the SUCC Dance Team's twenty years of existence complete, with text and accompanying photos of their many adventures; Ba Rock and Roll, a CD with original music and words and a Lindy choreography; C - A - N - C - E - R Cancer, a CD ready to be produced with words and a choreography; PdancE, an article with a futuristic view of movement to be taught in grades K-12 that is utilitarian for a lifetime of health and happiness for all children.

She was an active member of the morning Cortland Rotary Club spearheading their voting day pancake day for many years.  She joined the Unitarian Universalist Church of Cortland – the Cobblestone Church in 1962 and served in leadership roles over the years including as moderator and fundraiser for the restoration of the 1895 organ.  She was generous with her time and expertise at many of the nearby elementary and secondary schools.   She fed a lot of people in her life: homemade ice cream to her neighbors, warm bran muffins with peanut butter impromptu to her friends, or Christmas parties to the various groups she joined.  Bess was an avid gardener spending many hours there.

Bess leaves her daughter Ana Beth Koval and son Michael Frederick Koval (Robin Raushenbush Koval), grandsons Pieter Lucas van Drielen and Nicholas Ten van Drielen, Christopher Graham Koval and Brice Russell Koval.  She is survived by her siblings Richard Ring, and Rachel Ann Ring Speer.  She was preceded in death by her parents, a son - Christopher Jon Koval at the age of 19 and six siblings.

She chose this quotation for her obituary - ''I am delighted to find that even at my great age, ideas come to me the pursuit and development of which would require another lifetime.'' (Goethe, at 82).  Bess Ring Koval was vibrant, dynamic, and never stopped her artistic pursuits. "I did it my way! (BK, at 94)

A service by Rev. Aaron Payson will be held in Cortland, New York on Saturday July 22 at 1 pm at the UU Cobblestone Church, 3 Church Street, 13045.  RSVPs and Memories to BKBessKoval@gmail.com.

Donations in her memory can be made to the 1830s Cobblestone Church in Cortland.

https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=NLY95E7QFQX3N

Family and friends are encouraged to sign the online guestbook at www.ferrarifuneral.com

Ferrari Funeral Services of Coal City are entrusted with arrangements.