Alan married Kersten Erika Gronlund [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Occupation: Civil Engineer
• Residence: 1989, Auckland, , , New Zealand

Warwick married Marie Mildred Irwin 14 Jun 1952, Minneapolis, , Minnesota, United States; divorced 1981. Marie was born 3 Jan 1926, Wellington, , , New Zealand; died 13 Apr 2007, Auckland, , , New Zealand. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Occupation: educator and author of remedial reading books
• Obituary: 20 Apr 2007; New York Times Online (Asia Pacific)

Notes:

Obituary:

Obituary

April 20, 2007
Marie M. Clay, Remedial Reading Specialist, Dies at 81
By MARGALIT FOX

Marie M. Clay, an internationally known educator who developed a remedial reading program known as Reading Recovery, which has been used with millions of children around the world, died last Friday in Auckland, New Zealand. She was 81 and lived in Auckland.

Ms. Clay died after a brief illness, said the Reading Recovery Council of North America, which announced the death in the United States. Ms. Clay was an emeritus professor of education at the University of Auckland, where she had taught since the early 1960s.

Reading Recovery focuses on first-grade students who are having difficulty learning to read. It offers them a series of one-on-one daily lessons with a trained tutor, for 12 to 20 weeks.

Inaugurated in New Zealand in the 1970s, Reading Recovery has been used with more than 1.6 million children in the United States since it was introduced here in 1984, the North American organization said. It is used in several other English-speaking countries, including Canada, Australia and Britain. The program has a Spanish version, used in the United States; a French version, used in Canada; and a Danish version.

Ms. Clay’s many books include “Becoming Literate: The Construction of Inner Control,” Heinemann, 1991; “Concepts About Print: What Have Children Learned About the Way We Print Language?” Heinemann, 2000; and “Change Over Time in Children’s Literacy Development,” Heinemann, 2001.

Marie Mildred Irwin was born on Jan. 3, 1926, in Wellington, New Zealand. (Her given name is pronounced MAH-ree, with the stress on the first syllable.) She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of New Zealand in 1946 and a master’s degree in education in 1948. She studied clinical child psychology at the University of Minnesota in the early 1950s and earned a doctorate in education from the University of Auckland in 1966.

She taught elementary and special education in New Zealand, and was a school psychologist there, before joining the University of Auckland faculty.

Her marriage to Warwick Clay ended in divorce. She is survived by a brother, Robert Irwin of Auckland; a sister, Lorraine Christie of Wellington; two children, Alan Clay of Wanganui, New Zealand, and Jenny Clay of Auckland; and three grandchildren.

Ms. Clay, a past president of the International Reading Association, was widely honored for her work. She was made a dame commander of the British Empire in 1987.

Victor married Iris Kathleen Owen Baker 7 Aug 1923, Auckland, , , New Zealand. Iris (daughter of George Herbert Baker and Ada Caroline Owen) was born 14 Oct 1893, Auckland, , , New Zealand; died 2 Sep 1957, Auckland, , , New Zealand. [Group Sheet]