Marilyn Joanne Maines

Marilyn J. Maines was born on November 10, 1951 in Newark, New Jersey, and grew up in Old Bridge. She was class Salutatory speaker at her high school, Madison Township class of 1969. Marilyn discovered her love of Russian language and literature while studying for her undergraduate degree at Rutgers University, spending her spare time there teaching Russian to local high school students. Advanced study in Slavic Languages and Literature followed: a master’s degree from the Ohio State University and subsequent study in the PhD program at the University of Chicago.

Marilyn put her knowledge of the Soviet Union and her Russian language fluency to good use in a 30+ years long career in public service. After moving to Maryland, Marilyn took on positions as Technical Director, Director/Senior Manager for the United States Department of Defense, spending time at several DOD government agencies. She enjoyed travelling to England, Russia and several middle eastern countries during her career. After retiring from government service, Marilyn was appointed an Advisor/Faculty Member at the Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security Study of Language, at the University of Maryland. Marilyn co-authored a book with two co-workers at the University of Maryland: Crossing Nuclear Thresholds: Leveraging Sociocultural Insights into Nuclear Decision making.

Marilyn shared her love of travelling with her husband Dave and their three children, Sonya, Sasha and Bobby. There were trips to Disney World and the beach. Her love of traveling was matched only by her happiness at being near the ocean. She was a beach girl even while growing up in New Jersey! She loved to drive her 1965 Mustang convertible to the Jersey shore every weekend in summer with the top down. Marilyn and Dave loved the Outer Banks of North Carolina and owned a couple of beach houses over the years where they could soak up the sun and sounds. Marilyn lovingly decorated the beach house on Colington Creek in Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks. She thrilled at every sunset they saw for over twenty years. She and Dave also travelled to the New England states, Cancun, Hawaii, Rome and took several cruises to various locations including Nova Scotia, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. Their grandson, Rene Brown, accompanied them on the Caribbean cruises.

Marilyn was passionate about chronicling her family history, piecing together the stories of her grandparents and parents. In recent years, Marilyn brought remaining relatives together for a series of reunion weekends. For her, nothing was so important as her family, first and foremost her husband and children. But Marilyn also nurtured others who became like family to her. Her heart was open to those who needed her.

Marilyn was predeceased by her parents, Theodore Jackson (Jack) Maines and Getrude McCluskey Maines, and her beloved brother, Theodore Jackson (Ted) Maines Jr. She is survived by her husband David Knauber, and her children: Sonya & Aleksander Schwab, and Robert Knauber, and by her cousin, Laurie, with whom she grew up in New Jersey. The family would like to extend special thanks to Dr. Neil Caporaso, a dear friend and longstanding neighbor, for his help and support of Marilyn as she navigated the complexities and sadness of this disease.

There will be a “Celebration of Life” for Marilyn on Wednesday, May 21 from 4 to 8 pm at the Hines-Rinaldi Funeral Home, 11800 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20904. To honor Marilyn’s memory and support the fight against blood cancers, donations may be made online to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at www.lls.org or by mail to PO Box 22324, New York, NY 10087.