Garrel Shane Pottinger

Garrel Pottinger, a Lansing resident, died in Rochester at the Strong Memorial Hospital on May 21, 2021, at age 76, of complications of chronic heart failure.  Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 29, 1944, he earned three degrees in philosophy from Michigan State University (1966) and the University of Pittsburgh (1968 and 1972). He taught philosophy at California State University, Hayward in 1971—72 before accepting a faculty position in philosophy at Carnegie-Mellon University, where he met and married Rachel Maines, then a graduate student in the history of technology.  He taught philosophy at Potsdam State University from 1983 to 1986.

Garrel moved to Ithaca from Potsdam, NY, in 1986.  He was employed as a computer scientist for Odyssey Research Associates from 1986 to 1991, and for Digicomp Research in 1996 and 1997. From 1997 to 1999 he worked with his wife Rachel Maines in her museum consulting firm, before taking a position at the Tops Friendly Markets (Lansing) in 2000.  He retired in 2007.

He is survived by his wife, Rachel Maines, a daughter, Rachel Amanda Pottinger, who is a professor of computer science at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and a brother, Marion Giles Pottinger, a retired engineer in Akron, Ohio.

A memorial service will begin at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, June 28, 2021, at Lansing Funeral Home, 32 Auburn Road, Lansing.  For those wishing to attend via Zoom, please request the link by contacting the funeral home at 607-533-8600 or lansingfuneralhome@gmail.com.

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