Josephine "Jo" Buckley Flanders, a celebrated performer, producer, choreographer, dance teacher and star-maker, died Tuesday at the Hilo Life Care Facility on the Big Island. She was 92.

Flanders left her imprint on a galaxy of Island stars in shows she choreographed and produced in Waikiki supperclubs and lounges and on community theater stages over a career spanning 37 years.

"She had a lot to do with the whole evolution of show business in Waikiki," said Beverly Noa, a veteran hula soloist in Waikiki showrooms who worked with Flanders early in her career. "She had this idea to do a hula to the 'Star-Spangled Banner,' when Nina (Keali'iwahamana) sang it while I danced. She also got her beautiful hula girls to cut their ti leaf skirts shorter than normal, bringing on a whole new look. She was a pioneer."

Flanders established the Punahou Dance School in 1952. It would become a springboard for scores of campus and community dance spectacles that eventually led Flanders to a wider career, producing and developing stars and revues for Waikiki hotels.

"She was my 'grandma' who took me under her wing," said Marian Morrison, a choreographer-dancer who succeeded Flanders at the school. "The impact that Josephine Flanders had on my career was profound. She saw capabilities in me as a performer, choreographer and educator — long before I did."

Daughter Mari-jo Allen, a one-time dancer herself who was with Flanders in the hours before her death, said, "She set a tremendous example for others. She did everything right; she worked all her life, starting at 8, and she just loved what she did. Her work gave her a tremendous sense of satisfaction."

While Flanders never strove to turn out show business professionals, many of her students gravitated to work in Hollywood or on Broadway. Among her former pupils were Wisa D'Orso, who danced and sang on Broadway and on television; Juleste Salve, who appeared in Broadway musicals and in films; and Leilani Jones, who earned a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

"She was the one who started me out in theater in 1956 — she has been a tremendous influence," said Donald Yap, a pianist-conductor whose first show with Flanders was "Pajama Game." "I've been conducting since; her passing is the end of an era."

A striking woman with twinkling blue eyes and a sunny smile to match, Flanders at one time was the only entertainment director of a Hilton hotel (the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki) nationwide. With her husband, William Drew Flanders (now deceased), the couple opened a talent-management company to develop local stars and were instrumental in launching and galvanizing the careers of Don Ho, Danny Kaleikini, Hilo Hattie, Trummy Young, Ed Kenney, Beverly Noa, Masako (Darlene Yoshimoto), Ron Miyashiro, Al Harrington, Emma Veary, Boyce Rodrigues, Lani Custino, Marlene Sai, Loyal Garner, Kimo Garner, Eddie Bush, Liz Damon, Alan and Julie Grier, Rene Paulo, Tessa Magoon and Kalani Cockett.

Flanders was born Oct. 14, 1914, in Calumet City, Ill. At age 8 she was nudged into dance by her parents, who thought that dance would benefit her health. She danced professionally in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

After she met and married her husband in L.A., the couple decided to relocate to Honolulu in 1939. She maintained a dance-linked career in the Islands for nearly four decades, taking a break only when she had three children, a son and two daughters. She retired in 1975 and moved to Waimea on the Big Island.

During World War II, Flanders produced and directed USO camp shows in the Pacific; her all-girl crew of 30, dubbed Jo and the Flanderettes, danced and sang their way across the islands, performing for troops.

"Watching hundreds of servicemen enjoy a show I had produced, that's when I found it was more fun to choreograph and produce talent than to dance myself," she said in a 1977 interview. For her patriotic endeavors, Flanders received a special award from President Harry Truman.

After the war, she opened a dance studio on the 'Iolani School campus. She established the Punahou Dance School in 1952, where variety shows, aquacades, dance recitals and musicals became her trademark, attracting audiences well beyond the campus.

Later in her producing career, she would pluck a former Punahou student she remembered while teaching there for her Tapa Room shows at the Hilton Hawaiian Village; Flanders saw potential in Harrington, a football star, and Kenney, a Hawaiian singer who eventually went to Broadway, too, and built Polynesian revues around their budding talent.

Over a 10-year span, she also made stars out of two first-time singers, Masako and Loyal Garner, the former in the Tapa Room, the latter in the Garden Bar. "She was always available to me with good, solid advice, always guiding, always caring beyond my expectations," said pianist Ron Miyashiro, whom Flanders hired in 1962.

During a 15-year relationship with the Honolulu Community Theatre (now the Diamond Head Theatre), Flanders choreographed a string of hit musicals, including "Carousel" and "South Pacific."

Her dance card also included numerous community events, such as the Junior League balls and the Honolulu Symphony Society Muumuu Mania.

In 1994, Flanders was honored by the National Society of Arts and Letters, Hawai'i chapter, for her lifetime achievement and contribution in dance, music and education.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Feb. 19 at the Annunciation Catholic Church in Waimea. A celebration of her life will be held at 4 p.m. March 17 at the Punahou Chapel.

Survivors include daughters, Mari-jo (Marty) Allen and Lorraine (Michael) Urbic, both of Waimea, on the Big Island; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.