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)
BELOW, Daniel T., 19, St. Barnabas, Indianapolis, March 7. Son of Anthony and Janine Below. Brother of Giovanni and Joseph Below. Grandson of Ethel Adamo and Anna Marie Below.
BOOSEY, Michael A., 34, St. Jude, Indianapolis, March 1. Son of John and Stephanie Boosey. Brother of Jimmy and Joe Boosey. Uncle of two.
BUCHANAN, Alice G., 62, St. Vincent de Paul, Bedford, Feb. 15. Sister of Richard Buchanan. Aunt of several. (correction)
CORNWELL, John D., 74, St. Joseph, Corydon, March 9. Husband of Patricia Cornwell. Father of Lenora Heckel. Brother of Michael and Patrick Cornwell. Grandfather of one.
EMLET, Jerry, 67, St. Jude, Indianapolis, March 4. Husband of Karen Emlet. Father of Melissa Smith and Jerry Emlet, Jr. Brother of Patricia Gott and Michael Emlet. Grandfather of two.
GEIS, Marjorie A., 82, St. Catherine of Siena, Decatur County, March 2. Wife of Carl Geis. Mother of Carol Crowe, Diane Kirscher, Joyce, James, Larry, Mark, Nick, Steve and Wayne Geis. Sister of Sue Koors and Norma Shebler. Grandmother of 28. Great-grandmother of five.
KUNKEL, Ruth M., 86, St. Mary, Greensburg, March 6. Mother of Carol Kramer, Lynne Miller, Angie Wood, David, Gary, Mark and Rick Kunkel. Sister of Ralph Harmeyer. Grandmother of 12. Great-grandmother of 17.
LANE, Joseph M., 34, SS. Francis and Clare of Assisi, Greenwood, March 5. Father of Sean. Son of Bill and Tracy Lane. Brother of Beth Elpers.
LEONARD, Sue K., 85, St. Matthew the Apostle, Indianapolis, March 2. Mother of Carol Blankman, Sue Glaze, Jeanne Hutcherson, Bob, Dan, Dave, Ken, Steve and Ted Leonard. Sister of Tish Brafford, Bob and Mike Kirby. Grandmother of 25.
MACDANIEL, Dr. Donald L., 96, St. Gabriel, Connersville, Feb. 28. Father of Elizabeth, Bill, Donald, James and R. Patrick MacDaniel. Grandfather of three. Great‑grandfather of three.
MALLORY, Clara, 84, St. Augustine, Leopold, March 4. Wife of Charles Mallory. Mother of Cathy Reece and Richard Mallory. Grandmother of four. Great‑grandmother of 11.
MCPIKE, Dr. Joseph D., Sr., 85, SS. Francis and Clare of Assisi, Greenwood, March 4. Husband of Suzanne McPike. Father of Cathy Schuetter, Cindy and Joseph McPike II. Brother of Robert McPike. Grandfather of two.
O’DWYER, Michael P., 81, Our Lady of Lourdes, Indianapolis, Feb. 19. Brother of Kathleen Hahn.
RECH, Patricia F. (Kerby), 80, Holy Spirit, Indianapolis, March 7. Wife of Donald Rech. Mother of Angela Green, Cindy Lopez, Lori Maier, Carolyn Mattingly, Debra O’Neal, David and Michael Rech. Sister of Richard and Roy Kerby. Grandmother of 17. Great‑grandmother of 18.
REESE, Patricia M. (Jennings), 91, St. Therese of the Infant Jesus (Little Flower), Indianapolis, Feb. 26. Mother of Judy Steffey, Michele, Kevin, Mark and Michael Reese. Grandmother of 11. Great‑grandmother of 12. Great-great-grandmother of six.
RICKERT, Carla, 79,
St. Pius X, Indianapolis, Feb. 28. Wife of Richard Rickert. Mother of Lousia Osborne, Adam and Richard Rickert III. Grandmother of four.
RIPBERGER, Robert L., 94, St. Gabriel, Connersville, March 6. Father of Linda Kay Jones and Robert Ripberger. Brother of Marilyn Anderson, Pat Boughner, Phyllis Glaub, Carolyn Hall, Joyce Houseworth, David and Donald Ripberger. Grandfather of five. Great‑grandfather of 12.
SPEARING, Thomas J., 92, Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Indianapolis, Feb. 28. Father of Joan Dudash, Carol Leonberger, Phyllis Shea, Edmund and Paul Spearing. Grandfather of 12. Great‑grandfather of three.
TUCKER, John, 88, St. Christopher, Indianapolis, March 2. Father of Kim Sarabyn, Jeff, John and Nick Tucker. Grandfather of seven. Great-grandfather of seven.
TURCHAN, Gerrie, 86, St. Pius X, Indianapolis, March 5. Wife of Norman Turchan. Mother of Sharon Martin, Laura Ogle, Jean Schultz, Mary Shreve and Donald Turchan. Grandmother of 11. Great-grandmother of 10.
WATSON, Richard O., 89, St. Luke the Evangelist, Indianapolis, Feb. 10. Father of Cynthia Watson Beuoy and Elizabeth Watson Vandivier. Grandfather of six. Great‑grandfather of five.
WILLIAMS, Mildred K., 98, St. Paul, Tell City, Feb. 27. Mother of Dan and Steve Williams. Sister of Alice Wittmer. Grandmother of five.
WITTKAMPER, Catherine J., 56, Immaculate Conception, Millhousen, March 8. Wife of Mark Wittkamper. Mother of Samantha, Stephanie and Nicholas Kohlman, Sophia and Brian Wittkamper. Sister of Jennifer Eads, Veronica Henderson, Ann Rolf, Linda Schuck, Flora and Suzie Wagner, Leonard, Jr. and Matt Brancamp.
Father Jerome Robinson served in Indianapolis parishes
Father Jerome Robinson, a priest of the Archdiocese of Mobile, Ala., who ministered in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis beginning in 2016, died on March 11 at Providence Health Care at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
He was 71.
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on March 22 at St. Anselm Church in Chicago.
Father Robinson was born on Sept. 12, 1947, in Chicago. He was invested as a novice in the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) in 1968, professed temporary vows on Aug. 2, 1968, and solemn vows on June 6, 1973. He was ordained a priest on Nov. 1, 1975.
Father Robinson earned a bachelor’s degree in 1972 at Mundelein College of Chicago and a master of divinity degree at Aquinas Institute of Theology in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1975.
He did groundbreaking work as director of the Office of Black Ministries in the Diocese of Rochester, N.Y., in the 1970s. He also served on the board of directors of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus. Father Robinson later served as a hospital chaplain in Illinois, Texas and Wisconsin and as a campus minister at Texas Southern University in Houston and as a chaplain for the U.S. Navy in Rhode Island.
He incardinated into the Archdiocese of Mobile in 1995 and served in parishes there.
In 2016, he began to live in residence at St. Rita Parish in Indianapolis and offered sacramental assistance there and at Holy Angels Parish, also in Indianapolis. During his time in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Father Robinson also offered sacramental assistance in other parishes in Indianapolis.
He is survived by his twin sister Jewel Robinson. †