Marvin P. Bartel was born on January 26, 1937 to Linda (Penner) Bartel (1902-1941) and Henry H. Bartel (1901-1977). He descended from farmers and farmer-preachers who had emigrated from Prussia, now Poland. He grew up on a farm in Hillsboro, Kansas with his older brothers, Floyd (1929-2017) and Alfred (1932-1948). After the death of his mother, his father married Dora Ewert (1911-2000) in 1943, and his brother Dean was born in 1946. As a preschooler, Marvin wore out two tricycles, once riding two miles to his aunt Emma’s house before anyone noticed he was missing. He and Alfred rode their pony, Prince, to the one-room Silverfield Elementary School. Growing up on the farm seeded Marvin’s enduring enjoyment of gardening and fishing and provided early practice in finding creative solutions to problems large and small.
After graduating from Hillsboro High School (1955), Marvin attended Bethel College in Newton, Kansas. He graduated in 1960 with an art degree. At Bethel, he met nursing student Delores Suderman (1935- ); they married on November 27, 1958. Over the next decade, the growing family lived in Topeka, Newton, and Lawrence, Kansas, as well as Kirksville, Missouri, as Marvin taught at Topeka High School, Bethel College, and Northeast Missouri State College and completed his 1-W service working as the Director of Arts and Crafts at Newton’s PrairieView Psychiatric Hospital. At the same time, he completed his masters (1964) and doctoral (1970) degrees in art education from the University of Kansas. In his early artwork, Marvin explored drawing, painting, and jewelry-making before ultimately focusing on ceramics. In 1970, Marvin and his family moved to Indiana, where he joined the Goshen College art faculty.
At Goshen College, Marvin taught courses in ceramics, art education, photography, and architectural design. In the early 1970s, he designed and helped build the family home 
nestled in the woods, repurposing hand-hewn beams and other lumber he salvaged from a 100-year-old barn from the Kundred Gladiola Farm that had been damaged by a tornado. The home, with large windows and sloping walls, was soon packed with his ceramic creations, from dishes, pitchers, and vases to sinks, countertops, tables, chairs, and lighting fixtures. His artwork extended outside the house as well, with a mailbox, sculptures, planters, bird baths, and bird feeders in the woods. In 1981, he designed and built a studio and kiln next to the house, allowing him to make art from home and expand his exhibition space (along with a root cellar to store his garden’s bounty). He developed energy-efficient kiln designs to reduce fuel use in firing and secured a patent for a kiln heat-exchanger. He was always happy to help other potters implement these improvements in their own kilns.
Marvin’s artwork was shown in many solo and joint exhibitions. It is part of the permanent collection of the Midwest Museum of American Art in Elkhart, Indiana; the Tulip Tree Nature Center in Ligonier, Indiana; the Vera I. Mott Memorial Collection in Columbia, Missouri; and the Haan Museum of Indiana Art in Lafayette. For over 40 years, the house and studio were a living museum, as Marvin brought his classes and other guests for tours. His studio was also a stop on the annual Michiana Pottery Tour that began in 2012. Along with his physical creations, the vibrant pottery scene that was established by Marvin with his many ceramics students (chronicled in the 2020 book, “The Michiana Potters,” by Meredith A.E. McGriff) serves as an enduring legacy to the local community.
Running through all of his endeavors was Marvin’s belief in the importance and power of creativity, not just for artists, but for everyone. He was especially delighted to unleash and nurture the creative process in children. He shared this passion with his children and grandchildren, as a volunteer with the Boys and Girls Club of Goshen (2013-2019), and with any willing child who visited his home. He amplified the impact of this mission through his teaching of future elementary art teachers throughout his career at Goshen College and in numerous domestic and international workshops for art educators following his retirement from formal teaching in 2002. In these venues, he urged current and prospective art teachers to limit demonstrations and examples and instilled the value of asking questions and his “try it and see” approach to fostering creativity.
Once the internet came along, he posted pictures of his artwork on his website (Bartelart.com), where he also published essays and educational resources, including the “Top Ten Creativity Killers.” He self-published a book for children on learning to draw, and he authored “My Own Picture Book about Getting Older” (Faith and Life Press), which provides drawing prompts for children.
Marvin was an active member of Eighth Street Mennonite church since the early 1970s. He volunteered on numerous committees, created 
unique play structures for the Pre-school playground, and shared his sign-making skills for the Eighth Street sandwich stand at the MCC Relief Sale.
Marvin passed away on November 18, 2024. He will be deeply missed by Delores, his wife of 66 years; his children David Bartel (Sabbi Lall), Bonnie Bartel (Seiichi Matsuda), and Beth Bartel (Christopher Miller); his grandchildren Steven Bartel, Aaron Bartel (Jiaqi Duan), Laura Bartel (Peter Spears), Ella Matsuda (Jade Tonos), Emma Weaver (Luke MacCormick), and Luke Bartel; his brother Dean Preheim-Bartel; his sisters-in-law Gwen Preheim-Bartel, Justina Neufeld, Elvera Suderman, Judy Beechy, and Helga Edvardsen-Dyck; his nieces and nephews; his many friends; and his countless former students.
Goshen College News: Marvin Bartel, professor emeritus of art, dies at 87