Johanna Van Lente ’62 Vandrey

Dr. Johanna Van Lente taught German at NIU for 33 years. She was born in Carbondale, Illinois, where her father was a Professor of Chemistry. Jo attended Hope College for two years before returning to SIU where she earned her B.A. Johanna then was accepted into the graduate program for German at Northwestern University where she received her Ph.D in 1972. During her studies at NU she studied for one year at the Freie Universitaet in Berlin, Germany. Jo’s dissertation dealt with various aspects of the novels of Theodor Fontane.
After her retirement in 2002, Jo and her husband, Phil, traveled extensively, primarily to German-speaking regions of Europe and to Spanish-speaking countries (including Argentina) because Phil is fluent in Spanish. Jo loved opera. She especially enjoyed attending performances at Lyric Opera in Chicago.
Jo is survived by her husband and by two sisters: Ann Sedman of Macomb, Illinois, and Cynthia Ward of Providence, R.I.