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)
AUEL, Louis J., 84, St. Nicholas, Ripley County, Jan. 22. Husband of Linda Auel. Father of Randall Auel. Brother of Jean Caseltine, Joan Hostetler and Jim Auel. Grandfather of five. Great-grandfather of five.
BEYER, Bernard, 92, St. Vincent de Paul, Shelby County, Jan. 18. Husband of Roberta Beyer. Brother of Rita Teal and William Beyer.
ECKSTEIN, Cornelius E., 90, St. Nicholas, Ripley County, Jan. 17. Husband of Carol Eckstein. Father of Kathy Johnson, Anita Wallace, Darrell, Greg, Mark, Rodney and Steve Eckstein. Brother of Verena Fette, Matilda Nordmeyer, Alice Wuestefeld, Edmund, Father Francis and Walter Eckstein. Grandfather of 20. Great-grandfather of 22. Great-great-grandfather of seven.
EDWARDS, Doris L., 80, St. Vincent de Paul, Bedford, Jan. 5. Mother of Jane Harker, Elizabeth Young and Steve Edwards. Grandmother of four. Great-grandmother of one.
FERGUSON, Delores A., 78, Prince of Peace, Madison, Jan. 19. Mother of Martina Caudill, Nina LaPine and Kenneth Holt. Sister of Donna Combs, Joyce Jones, Kim McMillian and Steve Carrigan. Grandmother of 11. Great-grandmother of 13.
GEDIG, John E., 90, St. Barnabas, Indianapolis, Jan. 22. Father of Karen Burnett, John, Kurt, Paul and Richard Gedig. Brother of Bill and Bob Gedig. Grandfather of 10. Great-grandfather of seven.
JOYCE, Thomas A., 93, Holy Spirit, Indianapolis, Jan. 9. Husband of Betty (Neeb) Joyce. Father of Niki Simpson and Kevin Joyce. Grandfather of five. Great-grandfather of eight.
KLEIN, Antonia, 93, St. Mary, New Albany, Jan. 8. Mother of Patty Ballard, Ginny Burton, Alan and Tom Klein. Sister of Ann Duhanich and Dorothy Kukla. Grandmother of four. Great-grandmother of three.
LEILAND, Ethel May, 86, St. Roch, Indianapolis, Jan. 22. Mother of Michele Garriott-Pliley, Carole Hoffer, Nancy Oldham and Tom Davidson. Grandmother of four. Great-grandmother of three.
McFARLAND, C. Rosemary, 92, St. Mary, Greensburg, Jan. 24. Mother of Natalie Armstrong, Karen Hardesty, Anita Kendall, Kathy Whitmore, Prudence, Don, Pat, Phil and Tim McFarland. Sister of Margherita Meyer and Rita Rust. Grandmother of 15. Great-grandmother of 16.
NIELSEN, Matthew, 40, St. Jude, Indianapolis, Jan. 12. Husband of Teresa Nielsen. Father of Emma and Evan Nielsen. Son of Ruth Nielsen. Brother of Emily Nielsen.
RETZNER, Alvin H., 93, St. Nicholas, Ripley County, Jan. 23. Father of Mildred Mobley. Grandfather of three. Great-grandfather of 23. Great-great-grandfather of 21.
SALAMONE, Mario M., 92, St. Jude, Indianapolis, Jan. 19. Father of David and Dennis Salamone. Brother of Mary Rose Fisher. Grandfather of two.
SMITH, Ann, 79, Most Holy Name of Jesus, Beech Grove, Jan. 14. Mother of Patricia Cantrell, Cathy Gray, Debra Jenkins, Michael and Steven Morgan. Grandmother of 14. Great-grandmother of five.
TAYLOR, Patricia (Michaelis), 73, St. Philip Neri, Indianapolis, Dec. 31. Sister of Kathy Humphrey, Nancy Marchand, Philip and Robert Michaelis. Aunt of several.
TITARA, Laura Ann, 53, Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Indianapolis, Jan. 18. Wife of David Titara. Mother of James Fleek. Daughter of Anna Marie Marshall. Sister of Theresa Keenan. Grandmother of three.
WINDHOLTZ, James F., 82, St. Peter, Franklin County, Jan. 22. Father of James Windholtz. Grandfather of four. Great-grandfather of three.
ZIEGLER, Carole M., 73, Holy Family, Oldenburg, Jan. 27. Wife of Robert Ziegler. Mother of Pat Jacobi, Karen Pedigo, Billy and Susie Johnson. Stepmother of Angie Boyd, Kerri Browder and Melissa Kerker. Grandmother of 11.
Sister Mary Ann Schumann helped start archdiocese’s first perpetual adoration chapel across central and southern Indiana
Sister Mary Ann Schumann, an anchoress in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, died on Jan. 29 at St. Vincent Hospice in Indianapolis. She was 79.
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Feb. 1 at St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis. Burial followed at Our Lady of Peace Cemetery in Indianapolis.
Sister Mary Ann was born on Jan. 19, 1937, in Kinross, Iowa. She joined the Sisters of St. Francis in Maryville, Mo., in 1953 and professed vows in 1956. She graduated from St. Anthony’s school of nursing in 1960, and served as a nurse at the school and in Guthrie, Okla.
Sister Mary Ann left her religious community in 1970, and spent a year with Project Hope in Tunis, Tunisia. She later returned to the United States and earned a degree in theology in 1978 at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio.
She worked as a nurse for 15 years at Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis.
Sister Mary Ann worked with Msgr. Joseph Schaedel, pastor of St. Luke, to establish the first perpetual adoration chapel in the archdiocese. Adoration in the Divine Mercy Chapel, located on the grounds of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Indianapolis, was inaugurated on Sept. 14, 1989.
Over the next 26 years, Sister Mary Ann oversaw the chapel and promoted the Divine Mercy devotion and eucharistic adoration. There are now 11 other perpetual adoration chapels across central and southern Indiana.
Sister Mary Ann professed vows as an anchoress on May 30, 2000, at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis. Msgr. Schaedel, then serving as archdiocesan vicar general, received her vows.
An anchoress is a form of consecrated life in the Church in which a woman, living under vows, dedicates herself to solitude, prayer and penance.
She is survived by her sisters, Cindy Roth of Cairo, Mo., Martha Schumann of Columbia, Mo., Helen Skinner of Cairo, Mo., and Theresa Urenda of Wichita, Kan.
Memorial gifts may be sent to the Little Sisters of the Poor, 2345 W. 86th St., Indianapolis, IN 46260. †