Marjorie Wunder, a peace activist, dies at 90

Marjorie Irene Munson Wunder's commitment to peace and justice came from her deeply held Christian faith.

But it was the teachings of the late religious figure and longtime peace activist William Sloane Coffin in the 1980s that motivated and inspired Wunder, then a stay-at-home mother of three, to act.

She was arrested numerous times for civil disobedience in her attempt to bring attention to the dangers of ongoing wars and the production of nuclear weapons and cluster bombs.

Wunder, whose upbeat energy and tireless commitment to peace activism encouraged other women to speak out, died of heart disease on Oct. 1 at the Minnesota Masonic Home in Bloomington, said her daughter, Holly Wunder Stiles of Sacramento, Calif. Wunder was 90.

"My mother really found joy in life and she found joy in people," Stiles said.

Wunder was born and raised in Monmouth, Ill. She earned a bachelor's degree from Monmouth College in 1953, where she served on the alumni board for several years and met her husband, Hollis Wunder. They married in 1954 and the couple moved to Buffalo, N.Y., where they had three children together. A decade later, the Wunders made Minneapolis their home.

Wunder supported the peace movement in a variety of ways. She was "a proud recidivist" in the Honeywell project and was also an active member of Women Against Military Madness. In the early 1980s, Wunder and five of her friends, who were concerned about the ongoing wars and the dangers of nuclear weapons, founded Grandmothers for Peace, an Edina-based nonprofit that still meets regularly to talk about issues including health care, gun control and women's rights.

Despite her small stature, Wunder held a commanding voice on the streets during protests, at the Legislature when warning about the dangers of wars and at small gatherings.

"All of this was important because of the children. Our own children, and the children of the world are always our motivation and Marj was such a leader in getting this collective," said Darlene White, who joined the group in 1986, a few years after its inception.

Wunder was also a citizen diplomat, traveling half a world away to advocate for peace and cultivate ties between Minneapolis and Japan. Wunder was 14 when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan, an event that left an indelible mark on her. She helped found the Minneapolis-Hiroshima friendship cities connection and attended the World Conference of Mayors for Peace three times to represent the city of Minneapolis.

In the 1980s, she and the Minneapolis delegation acquired two stones from ground zero in Hiroshima that are part of the Lyndale Park Peace Garden.

"Marj always was the shepherd for the events in that period," said Jan Hively, Minneapolis deputy mayor during the 1980s. "She did not hesitate speaking to people who we needed to cooperate with us."

Wunder was preceded in death by her husband of 51 years, Hollis; infant son John Wunder; and her brother Kendall Munson. In addition to her daughter, Wunder is survived by children Douglas Wunder of Florida and Julianne Simmons of the Twin Cities area; grandchildren and a great grandchild.

A celebration of her life will be held at Minneapolis' Saints Luke and James Episcopal Church at 4557 Colfax Av. S. at 2 p.m., Oct. 22.