Marie Failinger

Marie Anita Failinger was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, on June 29, 1952. She was the eldest of six children born to Conard Frederick Failinger, Jr., and Joan Anita Lang Failinger. Conard, a graduate of University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacology, was in the U.S. Army Reserve at the time of her birth and served in the Korean War while Marie was an infant. During that time, Marie and her mother lived with Conard’s parents, Emma and Conard Sr. in Waterloo, Wisconsin, where Conard Sr. was a part-owner of Failinger and Sons pharmacy and general store.

Upon his return from the war, Conard Jr. took a job with Eli Lilly and Company as a pharmaceutical salesman. Because of his job transfers and promotions, Marie’s childhood and adolescence was spent in LaCrosse, Wisconsin; Rochester, Minnesota; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Lombard, Illinois. She graduated from Arlington High School in Indianapolis, IN, in 1965 and went to Valparaiso University, Indiana, graduating with high distinction in 1973. She attended Valparaiso University School of Law, graduating first in her class in 1976, and worked as a civilian for the U.S. Army and the Naval Sea Systems Command in the summer.

After law school, Marie taught in its legal clinic for a year, then became a staff attorney and later Director of Special Services at Legal Services Organization of Indiana in Indianapolis and Evansville, IN. She earned her LL.M. at Yale Law School in 1983 and became an assistant professor of law at Hamline University School of Law in Saint Paul, MN the same year. She also was a visiting fellow at the University of Chicago Divinity School in 1990. She was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa by Valparaiso University in 2014 and was the recipient of the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award, Minnesota Lawyer Attorney of the Year Award, the Minnesota Women Lawyers Myra Bradwell Award, and Service to MWL awards, the Journal of Law and Religion Achievement Award, the Wesley Faculty Award, and the Minnesota Justice Foundation Law School Professor award.

During her tenure at Hamline Law School, Marie served twice as associate dean and as interim dean during Hamline’s merger with William Mitchell School of Law in 2015. She retired from Mitchell Hamline School of Law in December 2022. During her teaching career, she helped to found the Infinity Project, Church Innovations Institute, the American Indian Policy Institute, and the Consortium for the National Equal Justice Library. She was also active on nonprofit boards and advisory groups, including the Council on Religion and Law, Central Minnesota Legal Services, Minnesota Women Lawyers, World Without Genocide, Karamah, the Council on American Islamic Relations—Minnesota, the Journal of Lutheran Ethics, Crossroads Adoption Services and several sections of the American Association of Law Schools. She edited the Journal of Law and Religion for 24 years and published four co-edited books and over a hundred articles and book chapters.

Marie was blessed with two accomplished daughters, Joanna and Krissy (Cassie), who both became nurses. She was a doting grandmother to four grandsons, Isaiah, Cristian, Jaxson, and Coltrane, and two granddaughters, Harper and Sawyer. She is also survived by her mother, Joan; two sisters, Dr. Ann Failinger (dec. Robert) and Kay (Stephen); three brothers, Dr. Conard III (Martha); Dr. Mark (Ashley), and Dr. Tom (Gale) Failinger, and fourteen nieces and nephews.

Special thanks to the staff at Our Lady of Peace Hospice. Visitation will be on Sunday, November 2, 2025, from 12-2 p.m. at Bradshaw Celebration of Life Center, 4600 Greenhaven Dr., White Bear Lake. Celebration of Life will be held Monday, November 3, 2025, at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer at 11:00 a.m., 285 Dale St. N, Saint Paul, with a visitation beginning at 10:00 a.m. Light refreshments will be served after the service. Interment following at Elmhurst Cemetery at 1:15 p.m., 1015 Dale St. N, Saint Paul. In lieu of flowers, it was Marie’s request that you consider a donation to Feed Our Starving Children or Global Health Ministries.