Genelle G. Morain

March 3 ^rd , 1928 ~ February 18, 2020
(a glorious 91 years and 351 days)

Obituary

Julia Genelle Grant Morain was born 03 March 1928 at her family home in Indianola, Iowa.  She transitioned safely and peacefully into the light on 18 February 2020 with her son and daughter-in-law beside her.

She was predeceased by her parents, George Arthur Grant and Helen Gertrude Wright; her husband, Claude L. Morain; her eldest brother, Richard Alan Grant; and plenty of other dear family members.

Genelle is survived by her daughter Michelle and son Brent, and their families; a brother, all her nieces and nephews, and a special Pi Berta Phi Sorority sister.

She was raised by loving parents who instilled in her all the sensible prairie values of the Midwest. Attending Simpson College, her interests included languages, literature, debate, and theater.  It was during a debate meeting that she met Claude Morain, the unending love of her life.

Genelle's career in education spanned five decades during which she taught over 9,000 students.  It started in Cherokee, Iowa, where, fresh out of college, she landed a job as a teacher of English and French.  During the summers, she studied Folklore in the Masters Degree program at Indiana University.  After the births of her two children and the passing of her husband in Council Bluffs, she moved her family back to Indianola.  Here she taught French at the local high school; was granted a Fulbright scholarship to study French language and culture in Tours, France; and was accepted to the Ph.D. program at The Ohio State University.

On completion of her doctorate in Education, Genelle was hired by The University of Georgia in Athens, GA, where she started teaching Fall quarter of 1968.  Beginning with classes in French, and an office in Baldwin Hall, she soon got a feel for life on the campus of an old southern university.  In 1971, she moved into the just constructed Aderhold Hall, new home to the College of Education.  Here she taught the methodology of language education, developed techniques in adult learning, published numerous articles, ran a summer language institute, developed curriculums around world cultures and their humor, cross-cultural understanding, kinesics and non verbal communication, and international folklore.  Genelle lectured at many conferences throughout the United States on these topics, and also delivered a University of Georgia Founders' Day address, a Simpson College commencement speech, and was tapped by the United Nations to be an Ambassador of Goodwill to France, where she lectured in Paris.

Recognized with a number of honors, Doctor Morain received The ACTFL-MLJ Paul Pimsleur Award for Research in Foreign Language Education; The Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professorship- twice; The Aderhold Distinguished Professor Award for excellence in research, teaching, and outreach/service -3 times, then given the honorific The Aderhold Distinguished Professor for Life ; Simpson College's Alumni Achievement Award , an honorary Doctorate of Humanities, plus her alma mater's highest award The Names that Live at Simpson-Distinguished Alumni; Indianola High School Alumni wall of distinction: graduate and teacher; The Athens Georgia Business & Professional Women's Club: Woman of the Year Golden Award ; and her most cherished: The lifetime achievement Best Mom Ever award.

Known by family, colleagues and students for her gourmet cooking, Genelle hosted some wonderful dinner parties at her home, "Quailwood plantation."  She was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Athens, a patron of the Athens theater and symphony, loved nature and the beautiful world she lived in, and was a traveler who enjoyed exploring new cultures, history, and art.

Genelle had a delightful sense of humor, and was an accomplished poet who frequently used this talent to illuminate tales of the supernatural in her folklore classes.  But she is perhaps best remembered for her storytelling, an art form she used to the delight of her audiences at speeches and lectures, her students in class, as well as her family and friends, especially on the dark of an All Hallows evening.

1. G. M. will be greatly missed by her children, her family, friends, colleagues, the Cornish pixies, Scottish Brownies, coastal Plat Eyes, various ghosts, haints, and spirits from around the world, Nessie, the fairies down in the garden, and all the other folkloric entities that she never stopped believing existed. We will look for her in the warmth of the sun's smile, the soft shadows of the moon, and in the light of the stars, and will, as any good Celtic folklorist could tell you, meet one day in the future on the distant shores of Tír na nÓg.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in her name to the Dr. G. A. and Helen Wright Grant Endowed Scholarship Simpson College. 701 North C Street. Indianola, Iowa 50125