Katherine "Kate" Mendeloff

Katherine (Kate) Mendeloff was a teacher, mentor, artist, and beloved friend to many. She was deeply committed to finding beauty through art and lifting up everyone in her community. She lived her life with warmth and brightness.

Kate was born in St. Louis, MO on April 10, 1954. Her parents, Albert Mendeloff and Natalie (Toby) Lavenstein, raised Kate and her two brothers in Baltimore, MD. From a young age, Kate was a natural performer and director. She corralled the neighborhood kids into backyard productions, and always knew that she wanted to work in the theater.

Kate entered Princeton University in the third class of female students, graduating in 1976 after producing Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle at Theatre Intime. Her graduate studies at the Yale School of Drama were interrupted when she was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus. During her convalescence in Baltimore, Kate met and fell in love with Jeffrey (Jeff) Curtis, then a medical resident at Baltimore City Hospital (currently Hopkins Bayview). Kate didn’t let chronic illness keep her from following her passion. For her MFA thesis, an innovative production of Frederico García Lorca’s Yerma, she filled the stage with sand, the first of her forays into environmental theater. Kate then taught drama at Towson University and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, directed at Center Stage in Baltimore, and was appointed to the Mayor’s Council on the Arts.

In 1983, newlyweds Kate and Jeff moved to San Francisco for Jeff’s pulmonary fellowship. Kate took over and revived the Tale Spinners Theatre, an inclusive space that focused on turning oral histories into plays. During this time, Kate and Jeff welcomed two daughters: Hannah in 1986 and Nora in 1988.

This larger family needed a secure home, which it got when Jeff was recruited to be the Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine Section Chief at VA Ann Arbor and a University of Michigan faculty member in 1990. Spousal hiring did not exist then, and Kate found her own position again, this time as a Lecturer in the UM Residential College Drama and First Year Seminar programs. For over 30 years, she produced a wide range of plays including the works of Chekhov, Lorca, Kushner, and adaptations of the ancient Greeks. She also developed new courses on direction, acting, and textual analysis, and provided space for students to step into leadership roles. Through her dedication to humanistic education, Kate introduced over a generation of students to a lifelong love of learning and theater.

For Kate, the world truly was a stage. She collaborated with playwrights across the country and internationally. Kate brought groups of actors to perform in festivals from Provincetown, MA to Moscow, Russia. She also staged many productions in unconventional locations. These included the courtyard of the Residential College, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Kelsey Museum of Natural History, and Matthaei Botanical Gardens. She hosted a residency by the National Theater of Ghana to perform in Michigan and invited them to a memorable dinner at her home.

Kate’s real passion was creating performance spaces that are welcoming and allow everyone to become their authentic selves. One of her proudest achievements was founding Shakespeare in the Arb. More than 20 years later, the environmental stagings of Shakespeare plays are a sanctuary for hundreds of students and a staple of the Ann Arbor community.

A social activist at heart, Kate’s other passions included supporting progressive causes and being a proud co-founder of the Lecturers’ Employee Organization (LEO) Union. So many of her artistic endeavors were rooted in her desire to bring to life important voices dealing with race and gender. She directed plays about the history of Detroit and supported community theater for underserved youth. Kate also co-developed a course at UM called “Empowering Community Through the Arts”, which fosters students’ ability to apply the arts as a catalyst for change in issues of social justice.

Kate also loved being a mother and deeply valued the time she spent with her family. Kate’s warmth, easy-going nature, and love of culture were at the heart of the many road trips and adventure-filled vacations the family experienced together over the years. An extrovert at heart, she was happiest when sharing stories and providing support to family and friends. As Kate herself noted, she was “lucky to live a life that connects so many people.”

Kate peacefully exited this world on April 15, 2023, a year after being diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer. Her final week was filled with an outpouring of love. Family, friends, colleagues, and former students visited and shared laughter and memories. Many described this time as a seminar on dying: Kate teaching us how to pass from this journey into the next one with dignity, joy, and humor. She is survived by her brothers, Henry and John Mendeloff; husband Jeff Curtis; daughters Hannah and Nora Curtis, and three grandchildren: Alethea (Thea) Curtis, Talia Niles, and Ari Curtis.

May her memory be a blessing.

Respecting Kate’s wishes, there will not be a viewing or funeral. The family is organizing a celebration of life for early summer.

Please visit the CaringBridge website (https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katemendeloff) for updates regarding the celebration, as well as places to donate in lieu of flowers.