Louis Elliot Janus

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Janus, Louis Elliot age 76, died on April 15, 2024 at his home in Richfield, Minnesota after a long illness. Louis was born on March 8, 1948 in Washington, D.C. to his loving parents, Zelda and Philip Janus. Following his childhood in Bethesda, Maryland, Louis attended the University of Chicago, where he earned a B.A. in Linguistics. He subsequently received an M.A. in Scandinavian Linguistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Ph.D. in Germanic Philology from the University of Minnesota. Louis met his wife, Suzanne, in Madison. They moved to the Twin Cities in 1974 where they married and raised their children, Emily and Ian. During college, Louis developed a lifelong interest in Scandinavia with a special focus on its languages. As a gifted teacher, he taught courses at St. Olaf College, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Oslo in Norway. Louis also served as Project Director of the Less Commonly Taught Languages Project at the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition at the University of Minnesota. Throughout his career, Louis dedicated himself to developing course materials and teaching methods to assist other instructors. He was an early developer of online instructional tools and his Norwegian grammar book is widely used throughout North America. During retirement, Louis continued to apply his teaching skills as a volunteer for ESL programs for immigrants. Louis was a gentle soul and a loving father and husband. All who were fortunate to know Louis will deeply miss his intellect, kindness, humor, and love of words. In addition to his wife, Suzanne Thorpe; daughter, Emily Janus; and son, Ian Janus, Louis is survived by his brother, Eric Janus and sister-in-law, Carolyn Chalmers. If desired, donations in Louis' memory may be made to the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Studies. scandinavianstudy.org/about-us/support-us/

Published on April 26, 2024