Family and Friends of Dr. Joel Maring

Dr. Joel M. Maring
Jan. 17, 1935 – Dec. 6, 2015

Dr. Joel Maring was an Associate Professor in the Anthropology department at SIU from 1963 to 1996, specializing in the areas of linguistics, ethnomusicology, and cultural change. He retired in 1996.

Joel was born January 17, 1935 in Waterloo, Iowa to Marjorie Lura (Shadman) and Marvyl Henry Maring. He graduated from West High School in Waterloo in 1950. He then began studies in Theology at Wartburg College in Waverly with intent to become a missionary, but graduated with a degree in English in 1953. He went on to graduate school at Indiana University-Bloomington, IN, where he met Ester Gayo whom he married on September 13, 1959. He finished his PhD in Anthropology after 10 years of research on the Keresan languages of the Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest. Based upon his dissertation data, he received a grant from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to devise a writing system for the Acoma language so that the Indian children could learn to read and write in their own native language.

In 1973, he and a colleague, Phillip Dark, went to New Guinea to do research on Papuan languages and arts. Some of his most important life work started in New Guinea resulting in the creation of the second largest collection of New Guinea art and cultural artifacts in existence, which is now owned by SIU.

Joel was well-loved by his many students and won several awards for excellence in teaching. He loved fishing, camping, playing darts and working in his gardens, but his true passion was his music. Joel Maring was a trained classical pianist who loved all kinds of music and instilled this love of music in his six children.