J. Barre Toelken

J. Barre Toelken June 15, 1935 to November 9, 2018 (83 years)
By Kazuko Toelken and Michael Spooner

Our beloved father, husband, colleague, mentor, and friend, passed away on November 9th, 2018. At the time of his passing, he had been in Signature Hospice care at Rocky Mountain Care in Logan, Utah. Barre will be warmly remembered by his wife, Midori (Miiko) Toelken and six children (Vanessa, Kazuko, Kenji and wife Nancy, Hiroshi, Taizo and wife Sandy, Chiyo), his mother-in-law Chiyoe Kubota, cousins Richard Lee and Lee Damon, along with grandchildren, great-grandchildren, extended family, loving friends, and admiring colleagues. Barre shared his love of adventure, singing and storytelling with his family and these memories, stories, and songs are and will be passed down through generations to come.



An internationally distinguished scholar of folklore, ballads, folksong, and Native American culture, John Barre Toelken was the author of scores of influential articles and multiple books, and he was a popular folksinger and sponsor of folk artists and performers, especially in the American West.



Barre traveled as a young man from Springfield, Mass. to Cache Valley, Ut., where he studied natural resources at Utah State University. After spending 2 years on the Navajo Reservation, he entered graduate school at the University of Oregon, receiving his Phd in medieval literature in 1964. There, the study of literature led him to an interest in ballads and then to the field of folklore. Barre was a brilliant and influential scholar, serving as professor of English at the University of Oregon (1966 to 1985) and as professor of English and history at Utah State University, where he was Director of the esteemed folklore program (1985 to 2002). He was the recipient of his field’s most distinguished awards for scholarship and service to the discipline, and his research, writing, and mentoring had its impacted three generations of researchers, teachers, and public-sector folklorists.



Barre was beloved for his common touch as much as for his scholarship; for his ribald sense of humor; as well as for his insightful interpretations of culture. He was well known as a folk singer and collector of folksongs, and he was likewise known for his occasional outspoken challenges to the orthodoxies of his field. A speaker of English, German, and Navajo, he was admired for scholarship on folk traditions of three continents; his contributions to the study of native American oral and material tradition are especially honored. His service to the discipline included terms as president of the American Folklore Society and as editor of the Journal of American Folklore and the journal Western Folklore, where he sponsored path-breaking work of established scholars and up-and-coming younger ones equally.



There will be a Celebration of Life for Barre on Saturday, December 15th, 2018 at 2pm in the Eccles Conference Center Auditorium, Utah State University 5005 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT



Friends and colleagues wanting to make a donation in Barre’s honor to support the Folklore Program at Utah State can send contributions, clearly marked as being in his name, to the address below.

Folklore Program Barre Toelken fund

c/o Annie Strickland, accountant

Department of English

3200 Old Main Hill

Logan, UT 84322-3200