Joan Mareese Aunger (nee Hettinger) was born in St. Cloud, Florida in 1929. Brought up in this small rural town, there were only 27 people in her graduating high school class. As a young woman, she avidly played piano. She went to Florida State University, graduating in Education, and then taught high school in Calahan, northern Florida until she married Robert Aunger, an accountant from South Dakota. Together, they lived in a number of States, including California and Georgia. Her husband died in 1995. She worked for a number of years as an administrative secretary for an engineering firm in Georgia. She loved reading mystery novels and travelling, taking many trips to Europe, including several river cruises.

She is survived by her brother, Vann Hettinger, who lives in Englewood, Colorado, and two sons, Robert Aunger Jr., who lives in England, and Mitchell Aunger, who lives in St. Louis.

A memorial service will be held at Lakeview Lounge, Gatesworth Community, 1 McKnight Place, Sunday January 5th, from 1-3 pm.

Those wishing to make donations in her memory are directed toward the Ituri Forest People’s Fund, which provides medical services and education to Central African rainforest hunter-gatherers whose living conditions have been decimated by warfare. This is the group with whom her son Robert, an anthropologist, works. You can read about the situation of this population at http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/democractic-republic-congo/ituri-forest-peoples-fund-assist, and make donations directly to http://www.culturalsurvival.org/donate (please mention ‘Ituri Forest People’s Fund’).’