October 25, 2024

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)

ANDERSON, Barbara, 80, St. Joseph, Shelbyville, Sept. 29. Mother of Theresa Lewis and Larry Anderson. Sister of James and William Chapman. Grandmother of eight. Great-grandmother of 11. Great-great-grandmother of one.

BROWN, Anthony L., 71, St. Matthew the Apostle, Indianapolis, Sept. 29. Husband of Anita Brown. Father of Spencer and Taylor Brown. Son of Margaret Brown. Brother of Al Brown.

GOODYEAR, Cynthia D., 96, St. Simon the Apostle, Indianapolis, Oct. 4. Mother of Kathleen Bahamonde, Diana Hoffman, Lois Holbrook and Roberta Kuonen. Grandmother of eight.

HARLE, Eleonore, 92, St. Barnabas, Indianapolis, Sept. 26. Mother of Hans Harle. Sister of Margot Berghofer, Marlene Frisch, Adolf and Eckehardt Jungbauer. Grandmother of one.

JACOBI, Dean A., 47, St. Mary-of-the-Knobs, Floyd County, Oct. 4. Son of Dian Jacobi. Brother of Angela Carter, Kimberly Harbison and Melissa Jacobi. Uncle of several.

JAMESON, John L., 85, St. Mary, North Vernon, Oct. 7. Husband of Joyce Jameson. Father of Jill, Jay and Jeff Jameson.

KIRCHNER, Robert B., 85, St. Mary, North Vernon, Oct. 9. Husband of Geraldine Kirchner. Father of Cindy Neal, Douglas, Jeffrey and Timothy Kirchner. Brother of Catherine Capes, Jeanette Firsich, Ladonna Green, Ruth Norris, Dorothy Palmer, Joanne Skelly, Mary Such, Jane, Andrew, John, Joseph, Michael, Patrick, Paul and Stephen Kirchner. Grandfather of seven. Great-grandfather of two.

LEE, Dustin M., 29, St. Charles Borromeo, Bloomington, Sept. 22. Son of Dena Fleener and Greg Lee. Brother of Jennifer and Jared Lee. Stepbrother of Ruthann Fleener. Step-grandson of Ester Fleener. Uncle of one.

NIESE, Elizabeth S., 80, St. Louis, Batesville, Sept. 29. Mother of Deborah Gabarini, Keith and Kevin Niese. Sister of Ray, Roy and Willy White. Grandmother of seven. Great-grandmother of three.

OGDEN, Brenda, 70, St. Joseph, Shelbyville, Oct. 3. Wife of Terry Ogden. Mother of Brianne Garrett and Danielle Worland. Sister of Mike Walton. Grandmother of eight.

TOBIN, Francine, 83, St. Charles Borromeo, Bloomington, Oct. 8. Mother of Karen Cole, Lynn Ybarra, Peter and Stephen Tobin. Sister of Joseph Cronin, Germaine Dagenais, Clovine Sahagian and Norman Letourneau. Grandmother of 13.

WALSMAN, Thomas, 75, St. Louis, Batesville, Sept. 26. Father of Lynn Raabe and Jonathan Walsman. Brother of Robert Walsman. Grandfather of three.

WAMSLEY, Barbara J., 96, St. Mary, Greensburg, Oct. 9. Mother of Nancy Grimes, Virginia Horton, Don and Hugh Smith, Dale and Don Wamsley, Jr. Sister of Dottie Hoeing and Mary Ann Welage. Grandmother of seven. Great-grandmother of nine.

WESSELER, Patricia, 84, St. Mary, Greensburg, Oct. 8. Wife of Bernard Wesseler. Mother of Dale and David Wesseler. Sister of Josie Lecher. Grandmother and great-grandmother of several.


Franciscan Sister Marilyn Doerger served in Catholic schools for 26 years

Franciscan Sister Marilyn Doerger (formerly Sister Christine) died on Sept. 23 at the motherhouse of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Oldenburg. She was 81.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Oct. 17 at the Motherhouse Chapel in Oldenburg. Burial followed at the sisters’ cemetery.

Sister Marilyn was born on March 20, 1943, in Cincinnati. She joined the Sisters of St. Francis on Feb. 2, 1961, and professed final vows on Aug. 12, 1966. Sister Marilyn earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education at Marian University in

Indianapolis and a master’s degree in elementary education at the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio.

During 58 years as a member of the Sisters of St. Francis, Sister Marilyn ministered in Catholic schools for 26 years in Indiana and Ohio. She later served at a home for abused and abandoned girls in Ohio, in communications for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and in nursing homes in Ohio. In 2014, Sister Marilyn returned to the motherhouse, where she volunteered in development at the Oldenburg Academy of the Immaculate Conception.

In the archdiocese, Sister Marilyn served at the former St. Gabriel the Archangel School in Indianapolis from 1981-84.

She is survived by her brother, James Doerger.

Memorial gifts may be sent to the Sisters of St. Francis, P.O. Box 100, Oldenburg, IN 47036-0100. †

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