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)
BAILEY, Evelyn L., 88,
St. Bartholomew, Columbus, March 23. Mother of Tim Bailey. Sister of William Mitchell. Grandmother of four. Great-grandmother of one.
CLARKE, Thomas, 75, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Richmond, March 21. Husband of Karen Clarke. Father of Jennifer Browning, Annette Reynolds, Patrick and Tony Clarke. Brother of Sandra Augustin Dehner. Grandfather of 13.
COLOMBO, George A., 85, Holy Spirit, Indianapolis, March 19. Husband of Joyce Colombo. Father of Mary Coffey, Dennis and Michael Columbo. Brother of Josephine Reeves. Grandfather of five.
DAY, Everett F., 90,
Holy Family, New Albany, March 15. Husband of Patricia Day. Father of Denise Ernstberger, Therese Stevens, Charles and Mike Day. Grandfather of seven. Great‑grandfather of four.
DEHOFF, Carolyn R., 81, Good Shepherd, Indianapolis, March 21. Mother of DeDe Biro and Linda Wood-Corbin. Grandmother of seven. Great‑grandmother of 15.
ELSTONE, Mary M. (Hildreth), 87, St. Mary-of-the-Knobs, Floyd County, March 24. Mother of Rose Himmelreich and Douglas Elstone. Sister of Edna Hall and James Hildreth. Grandmother of two.
ENGLAND, Jessie S., 69,
St. Mary, Lanesville, March 24. Husband of Patricia England. Father of Joshua England. Grandfather of two.
ERTEL Barbara A., 83,
St. Mary, North Vernon, March 19. Mother of Helen Brunner, Bill Jr., Ed and Joe Ertel. Grandmother of 12. Great-grandmother of 10.
FEDERLE, Carl L., 79,
St. Bartholomew, Columbus, March 17. Father of Lisa Abraham and Paula Perry. Brother of Marlene Greiwe, Joann Holzer and Howard Federle. Grandfather of five.
FLEMING, Michelle G., 79, St. Bartholomew, Columbus, March 18.
HARRISON, Timothy F., 57, St. Bartholomew, Columbus, March 11. Father of Ashley Harrison and Andrea Lucas. Son of Marion Harrison. Brother of Merri Jo Sims and Jerome Harrison. Grandfather of one.
HOBEIN, Alfred, 74,
Holy Spirit, Indianapolis,
Feb. 10. Husband of Valda Hobein. Father of Eric and Michael Hobein. Grandfather of three.
HUTCHENS, Mary (Yochem), 96, Holy Family, New Albany, Feb. 25. Mother of Alice Crady, Phyllis Kaiser, Beth Ann Luckett, Laura Schnell, Judith Schroeder, Mary Denise Smith, Elwood, Jr., Mark, Richard, Robert and Tom Hutchens. Sister of Rita Boehm. Grandmother of 35. Great‑grandmother of 74. Great‑great-grandmother of 10.
KNECHT, Bonnie R., 84,
St. Michael, Brookville, March 23. Mother of Denise Handley, Bobbi Princell, Deborah Tolson, Timothy and Thomas Knecht. Half-sister of Karen Hitchcock and Rosalyn Urban. Grandmother of eight. Great-grandmother of 23.
KUNKEL, James R., 65,
St. Gabriel, Connersville, March 21. Husband of Rita Kunkel. Son of Helen Kunkel. Brother of Patty Inman and Betty Littrel. Uncle of several.
MARSHALL, Marcella E., 94, St. Michael the Archangel, Indianapolis, March 23. Mother of Suzanne Elble, Mary Margaret Foreman, Maureen Marshall-Doss, Rita, Fred and Tim Marshall. Sister of Lorraine Bender. Grandmother of 16. Great-grandmother of 22.
MILLER, Mary F., 91, Good Shepherd, Indianapolis, March 1. Mother of Donna Brown, Carol Cogdill, Nikki Templeton, Tom Billington and Victor Miller III. Grandmother of 11. Great-grandmother of 25. Great-great-grandmother of two.
NOLAN, Bernice (Holden), 95, Holy Family, New Albany, Feb. 25. Mother of Marilyn Ziegler, Alan, Brian and Dr. Ronald Nolan. Sister of Cletus Holden. Grandmother of nine. Great-grandmother of 13.
SEUBERT, John G., 80,
St. Thomas More, Mooresville, March 4. Father of Jill Allen, Jacquelyn Fuller, Julie Noel, Jennifer Thomason and James Seubert. Brother of Linda Goodall and Lois Granan. Grandfather of 12. Great‑grandfather of five.
TABAK, Gloria M., 61, St. Simon the Apostle, Indianapolis, March 22. Wife of Ron Tabak. Mother of Kristin Eichel, Tyler McCreary and Travis Tabak. Grandmother of seven.
Conventual Franciscan Brother Bob Baxter served in retreat ministry and education
Conventual Franciscan Brother Bob Baxter, a member of the Our Lady of Consolation Province based in Mount St. Francis, died on March 22 in New Albany. He was 69.
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on April 5 at the chapel of the Conventual Franciscans at Mount St. Francis. Internment followed in the columbarium of the friars’ cemetery.
Robert Byrne Baxter, Jr., was born on Sept. 5, 1949, in Bay Shore, N.Y.
A graduate of St. Louis University in St. Louis, Brother Bob entered the province’s novitiate on Aug. 17, 1971. He professed simple vows on Aug. 5, 1972, and solemn vows on Nov. 1, 1976.
Brother Bob spent 25 years serving as a high school religious teacher, parish director of religious education and youth minister. In the archdiocese, he taught at Cardinal Ritter Jr./Sr.
High School in Indianapolis from 1989-90. From 1990-2001, he ministered as the director of religious education and youth minister at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Indianapolis.
Brother Bob was elected in 2001 as secretary of the Province of Our Lady of Consolation. In 2008, he began ministry as director of retreats at Mount St. Francis, leading a popular Scripture study class.
Brother Bob also served on the Archdiocesan Planning Commission for the Connected in the Spirit planning process.
He is survived by his sisters Clare Baxter of Princeton N.J., Julie Baxter of Nokomis, Fla., Anne Humes of Princeton, N.J., Margaret Helmig of Chatham, N.J., and Elaine Tracey of Monticello, Ill.; and by brothers James Baxter of Ringoes, N. J., and William Baxter of Arlington, Va.
Memorial gifts may be sent to the Mount St. Francis Retreat Assistance Fund or to the Province of Our Lady of Consolation, Development Office, both at 103 St. Francis Blvd., Mount St. Francis, IN, 47146.
Franciscan Sister Millie Speed served as an educator, missionary to the Navajo
Franciscan Sister Millie Speed died on March 20 at the motherhouse of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Oldenburg. She was 93.
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on March 23 at the Motherhouse Chapel in Oldenburg. Burial followed at the sisters’ cemetery.
Mildred Clara Speed was born on June 15, 1924, in Cincinnati.
She entered the Sisters of St. Francis on Sept. 4, 1939, and professed final vows on Aug. 12, 1945.
During 79 years as a Sister of St. Francis, Sister Millie ministered as an educator for 54 years in Catholic schools in Illinois, Indiana, Montana and Ohio. In the archdiocese, she served at St. Louis School in Batesville from 1950-51, St. Mary School in Greensburg from 1951-52, St. Vincent de Paul School in Bedford from 1958-60 and at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Indianapolis from 1960-65.
Beginning in 1996, Sister Millie began nine years of service as a missionary among the Navajo in New Mexico. She then retired to the motherhouse in Oldenburg in 2005.
Memorial gifts may be sent to the Sisters of St. Francis, P.O. Box 100, Oldenburg, IN 47036-0100. †