February 18, 2022

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)

AGUAYO DURAN, Feliciano, 84, St. Patrick, Indianapolis, Jan. 8. Husband of Maria Aguayo. Father of Rosa Guerrero, Adriana Martinez, Maria del Refugio Rodriguez, Maria Guadalupe, S. Lorena, Alberto, Carlos, Gonzalo, Javier, Manual, Oscar, Ruben and Vicente Aguayo. Brother of Costanza and Cipriano Aguayo and Jesus, Jose Bibiano and Norberto Aguayo Duran. Grandfather of 55. Great-grandfather of 91. Great-great-grandfather of 13.

AHLERS, John W., 63, Christ the King, Indianapolis, Jan. 19. Husband of Jan Ahlers. Father of Jennifer Ahlers. Brother of Andrew, Christopher, Matthew and Robert Ahlers.

BORLAND, Carol E., 79, St. Luke the Evangelist, Indianapolis, Jan. 18. Mother of Andrew and Matthew Borland. Sister of William Shipper. Grandmother of three.

CLOYD, Robert A., 77, St. Michael the Archangel, Indianapolis, Jan. 21. Husband of Jacqueline Cloyd. Father of Robert III and Ryan Cloyd. Brother of Kathleen Phillips, Helen Wright, Joseph and Paul Cloyd. Grandfather of several.

COLLIER, Frank, 86, St. Malachy, Brownsburg, Jan. 14. Husband of Joan Collier. Father of Kristin Underwood, Theresa Zimmermann, Deacon Daniel, Michael, Scott and Steven Collier. Brother of Judy Skinner. Grandfather of 14. Great-grandfather of 27.

COULON, George L., 89, St. Michael the Archangel, Indianapolis, Jan. 15. Husband of Dolores Coulon. Father of Carol Gabbert, Christine Hill, Barb Martin, Gail Zinninger, Anna and Kevin Waggoner. Brother of Dick, Gene, Joe and Tom Coulon. Grandfather of eight. Great-grandfather of 15.

DAVIS, David E., 83, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Indianapolis, Jan. 7. Husband of Diana Davis. Father of Jennifer Randol and Dale Davis. Brother of Mary Ellen Smith. Grandfather of five.

DOBSON, Bruce A., 69, St. Pius X, Indianapolis, Dec. 23. Husband of Jane Dobson. Father of Katie Stocker, Julie and David Dobson. Brother of Denise Delaney and Dan Dobson. Grandfather of one.

FORTHOFER, Rosina, 76, St. Nicholas, Ripley County, Jan. 17. Mother of Christy Werner, Shele Wiedeman and Nicholas Forthofer. Sister of Evy Kuntz and Mary Jo Wuestefeld. Grandmother of nine. Great-grandmother of five.

FREIBERGER, Omer E., 83, St. Mary-of-the-Knobs, Floyd County, Jan. 20. Husband of Lynn Freiberger. Father of Amy Denison, Aaron and Austen Freiberger. Brother of Eugene Freiberger. Grandfather of three.

HALL, John A., 84, St. Gabriel, Connersville, Jan. 18. Father of Mike Hall. Brother of Sarah Abramson and Mary Bobenia.

HARBERT, Mary Lou (Kaelin), 76, St. Jude, Indianapolis, Jan. 13. Mother of JoAnne Bhati, Valerie Haggerty, James and John Harbert, Jr. Sister of Judy Neckar and Alvin Kaelin, Sr. Grandmother of six.

HEAZELTINE, Martha A., 87, Holy Spirit, Indianapolis, Jan. 20. Mother of Carol, Elaine, Greg and Paul Heazeltine. Grandmother of two. Great-grandmother of six.

HERNANDEZ, Mary, 86, St. Gabriel the Archangel, Indianapolis, Jan. 16. Wife of Al Hernandez. Mother of Vicky Monaco, Linda Wooster, Alfie, Henry, Jim, Joe and Roy Hernandez. Sister of Rose Alvarez, Josephine Guzman, Anna Moreno, Beatrice Serrato and Lucy Veloz. Grandmother of 16. Great-grandmother of three.

HUGHES, Betty, 81, St. Rita, Indianapolis, Jan. 19. Wife of Ernest Hughes. Mother of Vicki, Kevin and Michael Hughes. Sister of Marion Beaven. Grandmother of six. Great-grandmother of eight.

JARBOE, William C., 84, St. Mark, Perry County, Jan. 18. Husband of Betty Jarboe. Father of Jackie Lockridge and Jill Peter. Grandfather of three. Great-grandfather of three.

JONES, Jr., Forrest T., 83, St. Rita, Indianapolis, Jan. 23. Husband of Diana Jones. Father of Karen, Tiffany, Dyran and Keith. Brother of Jerry and Ronald Jones. Grandfather of seven. Great-grandfather of six. Great-great-grandfather of one.

LITTLE, Anna E., 25, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Bright, Jan. 13. Daughter of Arthur III and Patricia Little. Sister of Daniel and Michael Little. Granddaughter of Janice Martin and Arthur Little II. Step-granddaughter of Ruthann Little.

MCINTYRE, Allen, 69, St. Gabriel, Connersville, Jan. 13. Husband of Carolyn McIntyre. Father of Jason and Rodney McIntyre. Son of Betty McIntyre. Brother of Bonnie Gardner and Connie Hansell. Grandfather of five.

MEYER, Margherita, 95, St. Mary, Rushville, Jan. 16. Mother of Ann Mathis, Alan, Dale and John Myer. Sister of Rita Rust. Grandmother of 12. Great-grandmother of two.

NOAH, Carlaine, 71, St. Gabriel, Connersville, Jan. 18. Father of Brian and Doug Noah. Brother of Tammy Berkemeier, Lark Bricker, Cheryl Broyles, Debby Eddy, Kim Lutz, Kay Pflum, Connie Smith and Jim Noah. Grandfather of several.

ORDNER, Jr., Frank W., 72, St. Joseph, Corydon, Jan. 14. Husband of Theresia Ordner. Father of Margaret, Frank III, John and Robert Ordner. Grandfather of five.

POWERS, Randall A., 73, St. Paul, Tell City, Jan. 12. Father of Stacie Henderson, Brianna, Crystal, Demetrius, Jeff and Travis Powers. Brother of Judy Hagedorn, Mary Kent, Finis, Jr., and Ronald Powers. Grandfather of 11. Great-grandfather of one.

RICHARDS, Lester D., 95, St. John Paul II, Sellersburg, Jan. 14. Husband of Elvira Richard. Father of Teresa, Dr. Andrew, David and L. Jerome Richard. Brother of Lyla Kopshina. Grandfather of seven. Great-grandfather of two.

ROFLES, Wilbur F., 103, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Bright, Jan. 19. Father of Eva Roll. Grandfather of three. Great-grandfather of two.

RUDY, Janet L., 65, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, New Albany, Jan. 17. Wife of Keith Rudy. Mother of Chad and Nicholas Rudy. Sister of Diane Cooke, Mary Lou Hublard, Cynthia Hytken and William Meyer. Step-sister of Charles Good. Grandmother of one.

SCHAEFER, Harry J., 97, All Saints, Dearborn County, Jan. 15. Father of Karen Blasdel and Nancy Meyer. Brother of Rosemary Conrad and Lester Schaefer. Grandfather of seven. Great-grandfather of nine.

SHALKOWSKI, Raymond A., 93, Good Shepherd, Indianapolis, Jan. 14. Husband of Ruth Shalkowski. Father of Robin Firman, Anna Marie Wuensch and Brian Shalkowski. Grandfather of seven. Step-grandfather of two. Great-grandfather of several.

SNYDER, Michael D., 43, St. Gabriel, Connersville, Jan. 13. Husband of Heather Snyder. Father of Breeana Hurley and Haley Jones. Son of James Snyder. Brother of Heather Meek. Grandfather of one.

VOLZ, John W., 79, St. John the Baptist, Osgood, Jan. 6. Husband of Theresa Volz. Father of Brian, Eric, Jason, Jeff, Mike and Shawn Volz. Brother of Susie Nichols, Pauline Schmidt and Andy Volz. Grandfather of 20. Great-grandfather of 11. †


Providence Sister Mary Ann Lechner served for 48 years in Catholic schools

Providence Sister Mary Ann Lechner (previously Sister Robert Ann), a member of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in St. Mary-of-the-Woods, died on Feb. 1 at Union Hospital in Terre Haute. She was 92.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Feb. 8 at the Church of the Immaculate Conception at the motherhouse in St. Mary-of-the-Woods. Burial followed at the sisters’ cemetery.

Sister Mary Ann was born on Feb. 8, 1929, in Jasper, Ind. She entered the Sisters of Providence on Jan. 8, 1947, and professed final vows on Aug. 15, 1954.

Sister Mary Ann earned a bachelor’s degree at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and a master’s degree at Indiana State University in Terre Haute.

During her 75 years as a member of the Sisters of Providence, Sister Mary Ann ministered in Catholic schools for 48 years in Illinois and Indiana. After retiring from education in 1997, she volunteered for different Hispanic organizations in Indianapolis until 2010 when she returned to the motherhouse. There, she volunteered at Woods Day Care until it closed in 2014.

In the archdiocese, Sister Mary Ann served at the former St. Joseph School in Terre Haute from 1954-56, St. Susanna School in Plainfield from 1959-65 and in Indianapolis at the former St. Ann School from 1967-68, St. Joan of Arc School from 1976-81 and St. Simon the Apostle School from 1981-97. She then volunteered in Indianapolis as the GED coordinator for the Hispanic Center from 1997-2003 and as a financial assistant at La Plaza from 2003-10.

Sister Mary Ann finally ministered as a receptionist at Woods Day Care at the motherhouse from 2010-14.

She is survived by two sister, Elizabeth Bormann of Dennison, Ill., and Eileen Lauka of Temecula, Calif.

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. †

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