James A Ponchot
The Kentucky Post, August 11, 1997, page 6A
Submitted by
Larry Dolan
PONCHOT James A 53, of Bellevue, died Friday at St. Luke Hospital East, Ft. Thomas. He was a teacher with Winton Wood School District in Cincinnati, and a member of Village Players of Ft. Thomas. He was also a member of Footlighters theater group, Newport; Mariemont Players in Cincinnati, and of the Ohio Community Theater Association.
Survivors include his wife, Mary Kehoe Ponchot; a daughter, Kelly Ripperger of Knoxville, Tenn.; a son, Keith Ponchot of New Orleans; his mother, Ruth Linkugel Ponchot of Ft. Thomas; a sister, Barbara Caudill of Ft. Thomas; and a brother, Joe Ponchot of Edgewood. Services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Muehlenkamp-Erschell Funeral Home, Ft. Thomas. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. today at the funeral home. Entombment will be in Evergreen Mausoleum, Southgate.
Memorials are suggested to American Heart
Association, 1885 Dixie Highway, Suite 250, Ft. Wright 41011.
Cincinnati Enquirer Sunday August 17, 1997 Page E7
PONCHOT DIES
Community theater lost one of its irreplaceables on Aug. 8. Jim Ponchot, a veteran of Edgecliff College and Showboat Majestic and more recently a mainstay of Village Players of Fort Thomas, Footlighters and Mariemont Players died at 53 of an apparent heart attack. He was preparing for his next role, in Neil Simon's Fools with director Norma Niinemets for Village Players. Last week-end's auditions were postponed.
"He was the kindest man in community theater," Ms. Niinemets says. "He was the favorite uncle in the community theater family. I sure will miss that horsy laugh and that foggy voice." Mr. Ponchot, a teacher at Winton Woods High School, had served on the state board of Ohio Community Theater Association for several years and was chair of this year's festival, a statewide competition slated for Labor Day weekend.