Josef S.M. Thanner *62

Joe died Jan. 17, 2024, at his home in Dunbarton, N.H., at the age of 97.

Born in 1926 in Altötting, Germany, Joe immigrated to the United States in the 1950s. He attended Wichita State University on a UNESCO World Heritage Scholarship and earned a Ph.D. in modern languages and literature from Princeton in 1962. Joe spent his academic career as a professor of German language and literature at Rutgers, teaching in the graduate school until his retirement in 1994.

Before coming to Princeton, Joe worked as an editor at Winkler Publishers in Munich. During that time, as a freelancer he translated French and English works into German. They included Prosper Mérimée’s Carmen, Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield and Great Expectations, and Oscar Wilde’s Short Stories and Fairy Tales.

A lover of fine wine and good food, Joe could speak rapturously and in intricate detail about a meal and wine pairing he had enjoyed 40 years earlier. He also relished a well-made martini. He could forgive someone for almost any transgression except not having a sense of humor.

Joe is survived by his wife of 64 years, Phyllis; children Megan, Koren, and Christopher; eight grandchildren; brother Rudolf; and sister Irmengard.

Graduate alumni memorials are prepared by the APGA.