Obituaries
Please submit in writing to our office by 10 a.m. Thursday before the week of publication; be sure to state date of death. Obituaries of archdiocesan priests serving our archdiocese are listed elsewhere in The Criterion. Order priests and religious sisters and brothers are included here, unless they are natives of the archdiocese or have other connections to it; those are separate obituaries on this page.
Submit an obituary here (parishes and funeral homes only)
BECKHAM, Frances L., 89, St. John Paul II, Clark County, March 24. Mother of Pamela Gensimore. Grandmother of two. Great-grandmother of four.
CLOUSER, Steven J., 45, St. Malachy, Brownsburg, March 23. Son of Mike and Jill Clouser. Brother of Kelly Rose and Christopher Clouser. Uncle of several.
DEXTER, Clare, 97, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Richmond, March 26. Mother of Jennifer Fletchall, Marybeth Jones, Richard, Ronn and William Dexter III. Grandmother of 14. Great‑grandmother of 15.
FUCHS, Leo W., 90, All Saints, Dearborn County, March 30. Father of Barbara Fuchs Bisset, Rosemary Horner and Raymond and Robert Fuchs. Grandfather of six. Great-grandfather of six.
GRIESHOP, Carl D., 78, Holy Family, Oldenburg, March 27. Husband of Dolores Grieshop. Father of Deb Ertel and David Grieshop. Brother of Bob Grieshop. Grandfather of eight. Step-grandfather of one. Great-grandfather of three.
HERBERT, Marvin B., 75, St. Mary, Greensburg, March 31. Husband of Nancy Herbert. Father of Steve Herbert. Grandfather of four.
HOFER, Anna, 91, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Richmond, March 31. Mother of Linda Doan. Grandmother of three. Great-grandmother of 15.
IRVINE, Miles G., infant, St. Malachy, Brownsburg, March 18. Son of Robert and Bethany Irvine. Brother of Samuel and Thad Irvine.
Grandson of Doug and Jan Irvine and Stan and Karen Lemieux.
KOWITZ, Lois D., 80, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Indianapolis, March 30. Mother of Bob, Randy, Thomas and Tony Matthews. Sister of Peter Baldwin. Grandmother and
great-grandmother of several.
KRUTHAUPT, Dale M., 65, Holy Family, New Albany, March 31. Husband of Jackie Kruthaupt. Father of Heather Curd, Brande Niese and Brian Kruthaupt. Brother of Debbie Burkhart, Diane Gunter, Rita Schutte, David, Jim, Orville Jr., and Steve Kruthaupt. Grandfather of nine.
LOESCH, Raymond, 86, St. Mary, New Albany, March 29. Husband of Shirley Loesch. Father of Debbie Page, Mary Sorrels, Teresa Young and Raymond Loesch. Grandfather of six. Great‑grandfather of two.
LONG, Beth A., 45, St. Malachy, Brownsburg, March 31. Daughter of Richard and Margaret Long. Sister of Brian Long.
MAIRE, Bilinda J., 62, SS. Francis and Clare of Assisi, Greenwood, March 29. Wife of Jeffrey Maire. Mother of Damon Burton, Alex and Joshua Maire. Sister of Kathi and Vern Kelly and Ron Chapman. Grandmother of six.
MCMAHON III, Mark, 81, St. Paul, Tell City, March 27. Father of Lori Thompson, Mark and Timothy McMahon. Brother of Ann McMahon King. Grandfather of one. Great‑grandfather of two.
PARISH, Amelia A., 94, St. Mary, Rushville, March 21. Mother of Cindy Hall, Patricia Steele and David Parish. Grandmother of six. Great‑grandmother of four.
PETERS, Alfreda J., 94, St. Mary, Greensburg, March 31. Mother of Diane Crosby, Cynthia Keillor, Kathleen Lecher, Marjorie Wannamaker, Dennis, Eugene and Marvin Peters. Sister of Ferdinand Bedel. Grandmother of nine. Great-grandmother of eight.
RUSH, Millie A., 73, St. Mary, New Albany, March 19. Wife of Donald Rush, Sr. Mother of Tina Hall and Donald Rush, Jr. Sister of Deborah Howell and Timothy Sorg. Grandmother of five. Great-grandmother of eight.
SCHAEFER, Ralph F., 83, St. Peter, Franklin County, March 30. Husband of Gayle Schaefer. Father of Kim Craig, Kelley Fuernstein, Kristy Miller, Lisa Mosmeier and Shari Sterwerf. Brother of Rosemary Conrad, Harry and Lester Schaefer. Grandfather of six.
SWANSON, Marie (Manda), 95, St. Charles Borromeo, Bloomington, March 24. Mother of Catherine, Christina and Mary Ann Swanson. Grandmother of five.
TAYLOR, Stephen J., 70, St. John Paul II, Clark County, March 28. Husband of Donna Taylor. Father of Jeffrey and Michael Taylor. Brother of Kevin and Robert Taylor. Grandfather of one.
WARD, Dorothy E., 78, St. Malachy, Brownsburg, March 16. Mother of Brenda Joyce, Annette Reddick and Brian Ward. Sister of John Jones. Grandmother of nine. Great‑grandmother of two.
WOLSIEFER, Dorine A., 83, St. Joseph, Shelbyville, March 12. Mother of several. Sister of Mark and Omer Weintraut. Grandmother of 14. Great-grandmother of three.
Providence Sister Rita Black ministered in Catholic education, health care
Providence Sister Rita Black died on March 30 at Mother Theodore Hall at St. Mary-of-the-Woods. She was 89.
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on April 3 at the Church of the Immaculate Conception at the motherhouse in St. Mary-of-the-Woods. Burial followed at the sisters’ cemetery.
Rita Marie Black was born on Dec. 18, 1927, in Terre Haute and grew up as a member of St. Patrick Parish there. She entered the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods on July 22, 1945, and professed final vows on Jan. 23, 1953.
Sister Rita earned a bachelor’s degree at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, a master’s degree at Indiana State University in Terre Haute and received training at Indiana Vocational Technical School to serve as a licensed practical nurse.
During her 72 years as a member of the Sisters of Providence, Sister Rita ministered in education for 24 years in schools in California, Illinois and Indiana. After being trained as a licensed practical nurse, she served in the motherhouse infirmary for nine years, in rural health care in Alabama for 12 years and for 14 years at Connecting Link, a social service organization in West Terre Haute, and at St. Ann Clinic in Terre Haute. She dedicated herself entirely to prayer in 2010.
In addition to serving in health care in the archdiocese, Sister Rita served at St. Philip Neri School in Indianapolis from 1951-52, St. Charles Borromeo School in Bloomington from 1953-63, and in Terre Haute at the former St. Benedict School from 1967-70, and at the former St. Margaret Mary School from 1970-75.
She is survived by her sister, Mary Kathryn Powell of North Judson, Ind.
Memorial gifts may be sent to the Sisters of Providence, 1 Sisters of Providence Road, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, St. Mary-of-the-Woods, IN 47876.
Providence Sister Jane Bodine ministered in Catholic education, development
Providence Sister Jane Bodine died on March 30 at Mother Theodore Hall at St. Mary-of-the-Woods. She was 97.
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on April 4 at the Church of the Immaculate Conception at the motherhouse in St. Mary-of-the-Woods. Burial followed at the sisters’ cemetery.
Anna Jane Bodine was born on Sept. 9, 1919, in St. Mary-of-the-Woods and grew up as a member of St. Mary-of-the-Woods Parish. She entered the Sisters of Providence of
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods on Jan. 9, 1937, and professed final vows on Aug. 15, 1945.
Sister Jane earned a bachelor’s degree in physics at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and a master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Notre Dame in northern Indiana.
During her 80 years as a member of the Sisters of Providence, Sister Jane ministered in education for 39 years in schools in Illinois and Indiana. She later founded the United Southside Community Organization Adult Education Program in Indianapolis and led it for eight years.
From 1978-84, Sister Jane served in leadership in the congregation and started its Office of Mission Advancement. Her work in development later expanded to helping other women’s religious orders learn about this field. She later worked with alumnae relations at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and the former Ladywood High School in Indianapolis.
In addition to serving in development work, Sister Jane ministered in the archdiocese at Our Lady of Providence Jr./Sr. High School in Clarksville from 1953-54 and 1957-62, and in Indianapolis at Ladywood High School from 1955-57, the former Latin School from 1970-72, and at the Hispanic Education Center from 1997-99.
She is survived by her sister, Ruth Lamb of Terre Haute.
Memorial gifts may be sent to the Sisters of Providence, 1 Sisters of Providence Road, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, St. Mary-of-the-Woods, IN 47876. †