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)
BAKER, Harold, 89, St. Mary, Lanesville, Oct. 16. Father of Andreas, Kenneth and Michael Baker. Brother of Elizabeth Mason. Grandfather of six. Great-grandfather of four.
BATLINER, Sr., Joseph C., 90, St. Mary-of-the-Knobs, Floyd County, Oct. 21. Husband of Jean Batliner. Father of Bridget Zipp, Mary Ann, David, Douglas, Jeffrey. Joe, Jr., and Thomas Batliner. Brother of Mary Hunter, Judy Jacobi and James Batliner. Grandfather of 15. Great-grandfather of 18.
BARGERHUFF, Robert J., 96, St. Luke the Evangelist, Indianapolis, Oct. 13. Husband of Ann Bargerhuff. Father of Julie, Bruce and John Bargerhuff. Grandfather of two.
BECHT, Margaret A., 93, St. Mary-of-the-Knobs, Floyd County, Oct. 15. Wife of Anthony Becht. Mother of Nancy Whitaker, Kelly and Richard Becht. Sister of Roberta Black. Grandmother of nine. Great-grandmother of 22. Great-great-grandmother of one.
CALLAHAN, Anna M. (Dierckman), 89, All Saints, Dearborn County, Oct. 18. Mother of Tammy Bischoff, Debbie Bruns, Jackie Gaynor, Brenda Ratz, Darren, Greg, Jamie, Jeff, Jerry, Kevin and Randy Callahan. Sister of Myrtle Hillenbrand, Carol Knue, Thelma Schornick, Arnold and Roger Dierckman. Grandmother of 37. Great-grandmother of 53.
CHILDERS, Karen L. (Dougherty), 67, Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Indianapolis, Oct. 19. Mother of David, Kyle and Ryan Walke. Sister of Lori Soots and Johnny Dougherty. Grandmother of six.
DODDS, Jill C., 80, St. Martin of Tours, Martinsville, Oct. 22. Wife of Bert Dodds. Mother of Piper Arthur. Sister of Joe Walters. Grandmother of two. Great-grandmother of two.
HAMMACK, Kenneth W., 81, St. Paul, Tell City, Oct. 23. Husband of Carol Hammack. Father of Brian and Kent Hammack. Brother of Sue Harris, Helen Jones and Perk Rothgerber. Grandfather of three. Step-grandfather of two. Great-grandfather of one. Step-great-grandfather of one.
HEGER, Shirley, 90, St. Mary, Greensburg, Oct. 18. Mother of Debra Burton, Donna Carson, Susan Fixmer, Karen Lomax, Mary Ann and Joe Geis. Sister of Harold Dicus. Grandmother of 30. Great-grandmother of 45. Great-great-grandmother of one.
HERBERT, Lloyd, 95, St. Mary, Rushville, Oct. 24. Father of Maryalice Hoeing and Dennis Herbert. Brother of Jeanie Hawley, Mary Hoeing, Patsy McVey, Carolyn Risk and Jerry Herbert. Grandfather of six. Great-grandfather of 10.
HORNBACH, William J., 85, All Saints, Dearborn County, Oct. 12. Husband of Linda Hornbach. Father of Tammy Cunningham, Theresa Horstman, Deron and Doug Hornbach. Stepfather of Linya Rehmel, Justin and Patrick Daugherty. Brother of Janet Hornbach and Bert Helfer. Grandfather of 18. Great-grandfather of nine.
JOHNSON, Ann M., 80, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, New Albany, Sept. 25. Wife of Llewellyn Johnson. Mother of Brian Johnson. Sister of Rita Trindeitmar and Robert Trouy. Grandmother of three.
LETTELLEIR, Barbara L., 97, St. Luke the Evangelist, Indianapolis, Sept. 16. Mother of Peggy Horstmann and Sara Lettelleir. Grandmother of two. Great-grandmother of one.
MCLAUGHLIN, Marilyn, 85, SS. Francis and Clare of Assisi, Greenwood, Sept. 20. Wife of Martin McLaughlin. Sister of Rosie Hickle.
MEO, Joan, 95, St. Mary, Rushville, Oct. 26. Wife of Tony Meo. Mother of Marcia Alexander, Stacie Kirkham, Diana Tobin, Angie Workman, Sonja Zoller, Roxie, Guy, Joe, Mike and Vincent Meo. Grandmother of 14. Great-grandmother of eight.
NESTER, Donald E., 81, St. Pius X, Indianapolis, Oct. 14. Husband of Elizabeth Prusakiewicz. Father of Deborah Hillenburg, Kelly Johnson, Kimberly Meyer and Jeffrey Nester. Brother of Elizabeth Mason. Grandfather of four.
O’RILEY, Dennis K., 70, St. Mark the Evangelist, Indianapolis, Oct. 18. Brother of Denise Gudat and James O’Riley. Uncle of several.
ORTH, Doris A., 93, St. Simon the Apostle, Indianapolis, Oct. 11. Mother of Angela Frankenburger, Susan Wiesinger, Robert and Thomas Orth. Grandmother of four. Great-grandmother of three.
PADAMADAN, Dr. William D., 85, St. Jude, Indianapolis, Oct. 22. Husband of Betty Padamadan. Father of Michelle Baldwin and Asha Roesener. Brother of Hosi and Sydney Padamadan. Grandfather of four.
PLOUGHE, Theresa, 84, St. Malachy, Brownsburg, Oct. 9. Mother of Shannon Guinn, A.J. and Pat Ploughe. Sister of Patrick Wynne. Grandmother of six. Great-grandmother of four.
POTEET, Dolores R., 93, St. Therese of the Infant Jesus (Little Flower), Indianapolis, Oct. 5. Mother of Sandy Collins, Toni Poteet-Gossett, Bobby, Chris and Michael Poteet. Sister of Gloria Leffler. Grandmother of 20. Great-grandmother of 37.
REED, Barbara S., 84, St. Therese of the Infant Jesus (Little Flower), Indianapolis, Oct. 16. Mother of Melissa Flores, Regina Howe, Sharon Jinks, Karon and Patrick Spellman. Sister of Paul May. Grandmother of nine. Great-grandmother of eight.
REED, Stephen A., 65, St. Michael, Cannelton, Oct. 21. Father of Dreama and Stephen Reed. Son of Ray and Jane Reed. Brother of Katherine Cottingham.
ROTHRING, John F., 79, St. Ambrose, Seymour, Oct. 15. Father of Alexis McLellan, Mary Richardson and Ben Rothring. Brother of Theresa Joray, Marian Judd, Lucretia Kuehn, Barbara Quigley, Claudia Stenftengel and Thomas Rothring. Grandfather of one.
SCHAFER, Jr., Charles J., 99, St. John Paul II, Sellersburg, Oct. 14. Father of Donna Howard and David Schafer. Grandfather of one. Great-grandfather of one.
SMITH, Kristian D., 47, All Saints, Dearborn County, Sept. 30. Husband of Annie Smith. Father of Edward, Elias and James Smith. Son of Ricardo and Sharon Smith. Brother of Nicole Giancola.
STROHMIER, Mary K., 88, St. Michael, Brookville, Oct. 14. Wife of Alan Strohmier. Mother of Tamara Schmid, Nadine Simmermeyer and David Strohmier. Sister of Linda Grocox, Debbie Pierce, Franciscan Sister Andre, Chuck and John Burkhart. Grandmother of eight. Great-grandmother of eight.
SWISHER, Monica M., 87, Holy Spirit, Indianapolis, Oct. 3. Mother of Shannon Heidenreich and Shavaun Trimpe. Grandmother of five. Great-grandmother of three.
THOMPSON, James A., 80, St. Mary-of-the-Knobs, Floyd County, Oct. 20. Husband of Sharon Thompson. Father of Brian, Kevin and Scott Thompson. Grandfather of two.
WARD, Douglass D., 82, St. John Paul II, Sellersburg, Oct. 13. Father of Greg, Kevin and Scott Ward. Grandfather of eight. Great-grandfather of three.
Carol A. Johnson, 82, was the mother of Father Eric Johnson
Carol A. Johnson, the mother of Father Eric Johnson, pastor of St. Mark the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis, died on
Oct. 27. She was 82.
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Nov. 5 at St. Barnabas Church in Indianapolis. Burial followed at Calvary Cemetery in Indianapolis.
Johnson was born on May 11, 1944, in Floyds Knobs to Bernard and Catherine (Trindeitmar) Koetter. She grew up in a family of nine children, one of whom was Msgr. Paul Koetter, an archdiocesan priest who died in 2022. Carol and her family were members of St. Mary-of-the-Knobs Parish in Floyd County.
After graduating from Our Lady of Providence High School in Clarksville, Johnson later earned a bachelor’s degree in education at the former St. Benedict College in Ferdinand, Ind., and served for periods in Indianapolis at St. Pius X School and at the former Assumption School.
In 1973, Johnson married her husband Edward Johnson, Jr., They later became the parents of their four children, all of whom survive: Emily Hatch, Sarah, Father Eric and Jeff Johnson.
She and Edward, who died on Sept. 10, a little more than six weeks before her death, nurtured in their family’s home a life of joy, learning a mutual love of family members for each other and a love of music, literature and adventure.
In her professional life, Johnson worked as a kindergarten teacher for a decade, as an administrator for Indianapolis Public Schools and as a program instructor and promotional specialist for educational learning at WFYI.
In addition to her children, Johnson is also survived by her sister, Benedictine Sister Mary Ann Koetter, her brothers, Bernie, Joe, Kevin, Ron, Steve and Ted, and her five grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to Our Lady of Grace Monastery, 1402 Southern Ave., Beech Grove, IN, or at www.benedictine.com/donate. †