René "Max"Marinoni

 Max was born June 10, 1937, in Grenoble, France, to Marie and Giuseppe Marinoni, who met in Grenoble after immigrating from southern and northern Italy respectively. The middle of three children, Max was close with his older and younger brothers Robert and Gilbert, and shared many stories of growing up in a tiny two-room apartment in occupied France during WWII. 

Max and his brothers excelled in primary school and qualified for the Lycée, defying expectations (except those of their parents) for working class immigrants, who were expected to attend technical school. Max went on to excel at the Lyceé, earning entrance to the Faculté des Lettres at the University of Grenoble.

 In 1958 Max met Sonya Peters, an American who came to Grenoble to study French, and they quickly fell in love. They planned to marry and move to the US, but lived intermittently apart, first while they completed their respective university studies, and then while Max completed his obligatory military service.

 After completing his coursework for his Master’s degree, when Max went to take his final exam he discovered he would have to agree to teach for 10 years in France before living elsewhere, so he walked out without taking the test. Max then carried out his military obligations in the Loire Valley and Paris, where he was recruited for officer's school after bootcamp, and finished his military stint as a Second Lieutenant in the cavalry.

No one thought with an American fiancée waiting for him, that getting a visa to enter the United States would be a problem, but then JFK was shot. After a last-minute pulling of strings by the Peters family, Max acquired a tourist visa to travel, and landed in Seattle on the eve of his wedding. Max and Sonya were married the next day on December 21, 1963. 

Max began teaching French at Seattle University. He earned his Ph.D in Romance Languages at the University of Washington in 1975. He was a beloved professor at Seattle University for 36 years. He and his colleague and friend, Paul Milan, started the French-in-France Institute in 1972. For decades they brought classes of students to his hometown of Grenoble to learn French immersively, many of whom stayed in touch long after he retired. 

Max was deeply passionate about soccer and played it enthusiastically into his 70’s. When he had his first heart attack twenty years ago, doctors told him it was his years of playing soccer that had made his heart strong enough to survive the attack. 

Max loved to ski, garden, and travel. When he wasn’t cutting trees and planting flowers on the property around their home, Max and Sonya explored almost every region of the world, traveling to over 50 countries. Max was also inherently creative, dabbling in stained glass art and designing and decorating whatever outlandish cake his children and grandchildren requested for their birthday. The family always looked forward to receiving the photoshopped cards he created for every occasion. Most of all he loved spending time with his family. 

Max is survived by Sonya, his wife of 61 years. He will be dearly missed by her and by his three children: Laura Marinoni Sachs (husband, John), Christine Marinoni (wife, Cynthia Nixon), Marc Marinoni (wife, Brandi Alexander Marinoni); and his eight grandchildren: Mitchell Sachs, Andre Sachs, Miles Sachs, Seph Mozes, Charlie Mozes, Max Nixon-Marinoni, Alex Marinoni, and Emily Marinoni. 

A celebration of his life will be at Hyla School’s Bucklin Hill Campus on Bainbridge Island, May 10th at 2:00 pm. There will be a short pick-up soccer game after the ceremony. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Bainbridge Island Land Trust, or watch some soccer, cut some ferns in your yard, or take a trip. 

Arrangements are entrusted to Cook Family Funeral Home of Bainbridge Island, WA