The matriarch of a former Des Moines family made famous by a decision of the United States Supreme Court involving the First Amendment and public schools is dead. Eighty-six year old Lorena Jeanne Tinker has died at her daughter Mary Beth's home in Fayette, Missouri. Mrs. Tinker and her husband, Leonard Tinker, Junior, minister at Epworth United Methodist Church in Des Moines in the 1960s, were parents of seven, including Mary Beth and John.
The two Tinker children, along with a third boy, were suspended from classes by Des Moines Independent School District officials after they wore black arm bands to classes. The black arm bands were in protest of the war in Vietnam. The incident occurred in December 1965.
The case made its way to the United States Supreme Court. In 1969 seven of the justices found that Des Moines school officials violated the First Amendment by their actions. The decision is Tinker v. Des Moines Ind. Comm. School Dist., 393 U.S. 503 (1969).
The Tinker family left Des Moines in 1969 and moved to Missouri. There, Mrs. Tinker earned a doctorate in psychology. She, then, taught at several colleges and universities. In the 1990s, she moved to Fayette, where she practiced psychology and became a leader in peace studies. She taught peace studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She was also active in a number of peace organizations in mid-Missouri.
One of her sons, Leonard Tinker the Third, lives in Des Moines.
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