Jennifer Landreth was more than the production stage manager at the Ball State theater and dance department. She was considered by many as the voice of reason when dealing with production, an inviting, high spirited mentor and most important, a caring friend.
Landreth, 32, passed away at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center on Sunday after her battle with leukemia.
Jennifer Blackmer, an associate professor of theater, said after working almost four years at Ball State, she was as close as family with the theater department. Landreth would meet with other faculty and students at Applebee's for opening nights.
"The faculty in particular, we were always really close so we had gatherings at other people's houses on the holidays." Blackmer said. "We were all just very close."
Landreth was also remembered by her students as a mentor that encouraged students to treat each other like family and to do more for the production.
"Jen taught some Theatre 100 classes, and she treated them with upmost seriousness," said Ryan Prendergast, a Ball State alumnus who graduated last year. "But she was always excited about the work she was doing and she always made sure everyone was as excited as she was."
There were sometimes disagreements between Landreth and her students, but she was mostly known to be a problem solver and the voice of reason.
"Even if things were tense between us, she was courteous and professional until we ultimately made up," assistant production stage manager Cameron Berne said.
He remembers hanging out with Landreth during the summer when he had the opportunity to spend time with her as friends. Landreth had a bonfire at her house and invited the cast and crew that was working during the summer. The group sat with her and her husband, Kyle, talking for hours.
"Some of the people that were on the cast who had not had many encounters with Jen were very surprised by how accommodating and generous she and Kyle were," he said. "But those of us who knew her well knew that it was just how Jen was."
Landreth worked with her students, treating them more like collaborators than students, junior theatre production major Sid Ullrich said.
"The first time I met Jen, we were working on a summer show for more than a week before I realized she was a professor," he said.
She was also the person that would make other students' and faculty members' days brighter just with her comments.
"Whenever I had a crappy day of classes, I could always rely on her sarcastic but loving sense of humor to cheer me up as soon as I came to the office," Ullrich said. "The theater department didn't just lose a great teacher; we lost an amazing friend."
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