JOAN M. MAYNARD
Joan M. Maynard died on November 21, 2020 after a lengthy illness. A proud, longtime resident of Santa Fe, she will be dearly missed by her family and by many friends, including those she served with in volunteer organizations, particularly her beloved Museum of International Folk Art.
Joan was preceded in death by her husband, Charles W. Maynard. She leaves behind a daughter, Elizabeth Maynard Schaefer of Hayward, CA; son Mark D. Maynard of Santa Fe; son-in-law John Schaefer; and granddaughter Amy Schaefer. Joan was born in Turtle Creek, PA where she loved discovering dance and theater classes in downtown Pittsburgh as a child, even appearing on The Happy Puppy TV show. She graduated from Dickenson College in 1957, a Phi Mu, with a degree in mathematics, a field with few women at the time. She then worked as a computer programmer at the Westinghouse Atomic Power Division as part of the team that developed the first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus.
Joan met her future husband, Charles, working at Westinghouse. After they married they moved to Madison, WI when he began a professorship in nuclear engineering at the University of Wisconsin Madison. They raised two children, Beth and Mark, and Joan began volunteering at community and arts organizations in Madison, including as an active member of the Attic Angel Association, president of the University League, a docent at the (then) Elvehjem Museum of Art and contributing her creative skills at the Madison Civic Center. The family’s several-month adventure living in the Soviet Union in 1976 kindled her lifelong fascination with Russian culture and Russian art, particularly folk art.
After Charles’s death, Joan relocated to Santa Fe, NM permanently in 1998, and she again took up volunteerism. At the Museum of International Folk Art, she became a docent, especially loving to guide children’s groups and to develop activities for them. She loved creating unique fundraising events for the Friends of Folk Art, among them “Fabled Tables”, an event where folk art from a wide range of cultures was highlighted alongside dinner and a silent auction.
Joan assisted many other organizations as well, including as a Board Member of the Botanical Garden, editor of a cookbook for a Santa Fe Women’s Club fundraiser, a welcomer assisting Santa Fe visitors at the Bienvenidos information booth, and a math tutor for struggling students at local elementary schools.
Memorial donations may be made to the Museum of International Folk Art Education Fund at museumfoundation.org or 706 Camino Lejo, on Museum Hill, Santa Fe, NM 87505.