Joseph Walter Elder

1930 - 2025

Joseph Walter Elder

July 25, 1930 - January 26, 2025

Joe Elder was born in Kermanshah, Iran (Persia), July 25, 1930, to Rev. (later Dr.) John Elder and Ruth Roche Elder of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. Initially home-schooled by his mother, he attended the mission's Community School in Tehran, Iran, from 1938 to 1945 and completed high school at Mount Hermon in Massachusetts (1947).

His decision to attend Oberlin College affected much of his life. There he met Joann "Jo" Finley (whom he married August 4, 1951), received his B. A, (1951), M.A. (1954), taught Sociology (1959-61), served on the Board of Trustees (1970-1982), and received an Alumni Association Distinguished Achievement Award (2000).

Beginning with his and Jo's appointments as high school teachers in South India (1951-53) by the Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association, Joe maintained a lifelong interest in India. His Sociology PhD dissertation for Harvard University (1959) was based on data he gathered while living with Jo and their first two children, Shonti and John, in a tent in a mango grove adjoining a north Indian village (1956-58). Over the years he produced more than 20 documentary films dealing with India. From 1986 to 1994 he was President of the American Institute of Indian Studies, the major funding source for scholarly research in India.

Joe joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty in 1961 with appointments in the Departments of Sociology and South Asian Studies. He subsequently played major roles in the University's study-abroad programs in India and Nepal and in the University's certificate programs in Integrated Liberal Studies, in Global Cultures, and in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies. He received numerous teaching awards. Joe retired from the University in 2014 at 84, after 53 years of teaching.

Joe and Jo joined the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in 1960, and both were active members of the Madison (Wisconsin) Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends and the American Friends Service Committee. Joe carried out Quaker assignments in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, North and South Vietnam, North and South Korea, and Sri Lanka. He supported human rights and tirelessly advocated alternatives to military "solutions" to international problems. In 1985 he became a charter member of the Madison Institute, a Madison-based progressive think-tank. In 1995 he became a charter member of the board of trustees of the International Interfaith Peace Council.

Joe loved Jo; their children, Shonti, John and Ed and their families; his students and colleagues; and much of the rest of humankind. He believed in, and was glad to have an opportunity to work for, a better world.

Joe was preceded in death by his wife, Jo Elder, in 2022 after 71 years of marriage. He is survived by his children, Shonti Elder (husband, Bill Frey), John Elder (wife, Leslie Elder), Ed Elder (husband, Danny Ashkenasi); sisters, Louise Lund and Alice Leake; brother, Dave Elder; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews, great- and great-great nieces and nephews.

His memorial will be on Saturday, June 21, at 11 a.m., at the First Unitarian Meeting House, 900 University Bay Drive. This will be livestreamed and recorded to watch at a later date as well.

Cress Funeral & Cremation Service

3610 Speedway Road, Madison

(608) 238-3434