Margie Voelker

In Memoriam

Margie (Marge) Voelker, long-time Mathematics Librarian, died on October 17, 2017, at the age of 92.  

Marge was born June 23, 1925 in Hastings, MN.  She graduated from the College of St. Benedict in 1947 with a degree in Mathematics and Physics. She also received her Master's Degree from the University of Minnesota in Library Science in 1968.  She became Associate Professor and Head Librarian of the Mathematics Library at the University of Minnesota, and retired in 1987 after more than 18 years of service.  Her gentle manner is fondly remembered among the faculty, but she also successfully resisted having the Math Library consolidated into a central location, as the other science libraries were, with support rising to activism from the mathematics faculty.

She published a compilation of winners of mathematics prizes in the School of Mathematics' report series (Margie L Voelker, "Prizes in Mathematics," University of Minnesota mathematics report ; no. 85-139. Minneapolis, Minn. : University of Minnesota, Institute of Technology, School of Mathematics 1986. Mathematics Library QA99 .V63x). Such information was hard to find in the pre-internet days, and her report served as the basis for a book published by her successor, Janice Jaguszewski.

Marge was active in the main professional organization for mathematics librarians, the Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics (PAM) division of the Special Libraries Association, having been elected to the Executive Board and serving as Secretary 1979-1981. She also served on various PAM committees and led the mathematics librarian workshop at the Detroit conference in 1982.

Her husband, Karl Voelker, and son Mark pre-deceased her. She is survived by children Ann, Mary and John, 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.