Memering, Joan Shipers.

Joan Shipers Memering (Jan. 24, 1945-June 26, 2004) earned a B. A. in English from Bowling Green State University (1966), and master's degrees in English and Speech from CMU (in 1973 and 1979, respectively). She taught in the Peace Corps in Colombia, 1967-1968, at The Columbus School, 1969-1979, at Hodge Elementary School in Cleveland, Ohio, 1970-1971, and at West Intermediate Junior High in Mount Pleasant (Mich.), 1974-1975. Also, Joan taught composition, English, journalism, and speech courses at CMU, 1975-1990, and at Delta College in 1974. In 1979 Joan became the Coordinator of the Mid-Michigan Refugee Action Committee, which did extensive legal work and writing on behalf of Asian refugees and new Asian immigrants. She befriended Cambodian refugees who resettled in Mount Pleasant (Mich.) and surrounding communties. Joan conducted oral interviews with them, using the transcripts to write manuscript versions of a book. Joan also wrote numerous articles on a wide variety of topics, including Cambodian refugees, for area newspapers, the Saginaw News, and CMU's Information Services newsletter, 1979-1987. Joan married Professor Willard D. "Dean" Memering (Jan. 7, 1936-Aug. 25, 2006) in Robinson Hall on the CMU campus in 1973. Dean earned a B. Ed. in English from the University of Miami (1958), and both a M. A. in English Education and a Ph. D. in English Education, Composition and Rhetoric from Florida State University (in 1968 and 1971, respectively). Dean taught in the Department of English at CMU from 1971 until his retirement in 1998. He was progressive in his teaching style and instrumental in establishing the department's computer lab. He also wrote a number of books on writing, copies of which are in the CMU libraries.