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)

ARMBRUSTER, Anne T., 89, Good Shepherd, Indianapolis, Oct. 27. Mother of Suzanne Bennett, Estelle Britner, Beth Mislan, Rosanne Strevels, Mary Tieken, Daniel, Michael, Robert and Stephen Armbruster. Sister of Estelle Redoutey. Grandmother of 32. Great-grandmother of 31.

BOWMAN, Rose C., 86, St. Joseph, Corydon, Oct. 28. Mother of Melissa Bailey, Nancy Hollely, Debra Mills, Ben, Donald and Tom Bowman. Grandmother of seven. Great-grandmother of four.

DENNIS, Anthony C., 40, St. Barnabas, Indianapolis, Oct. 29. Father of Isaac Dennis. Son of Susie Dennis. Brother of Marisol Dennis.

HOLZER, Sandra M., 78, St. Matthew the Apostle, Indianapolis, Oct. 26. Mother of Nadine Pedue, Brice and Mike Holzer. Sister of Dexter Rose. Grandmother of seven.

KELLY, Jr., John T., 80, St. Therese of the Infant Jesus (Little Flower), Indianapolis, Oct. 25. Father of Lachelle Enlow. Brother of Cecilia Jones, Barbara Morreale, Alice, Kevin and Michael Kelly. Grandfather of four.

MCGEE, Richard Y., 86, St. Bartholomew, Columbus, Oct. 23. Husband of Donnette McGee. Father of DeeDee Beckham, Cathy Hayati, Wendy Gonzalez, Carrie Leisure, Lynn Lucas, Sarah Woolwine, Chuck, Rick and Tim McGee. Brother of Sarah Healy and Michael McGee. Grandfather and great-grandfather of several.

MCHUGH, Irene, 97, St. Malachy, Brownsburg, Oct. 21. Mother of Robert, Ted and Tim McHugh. Sister of Phyllis Hughes. Grandmother of 15. Great-grandmother of 23. Great-great-grandmother of five.

MCMULLEN, Barbara A., 87, St. Bartholomew, Columbus, Oct. 19. Mother of Erin Beckman, Marylove, Sheila and Michael McMullen. Sister of Eleanor Knudson. Grandmother of three. Great-grandmother of five.

MILLS, Mary C. (Sahm), 54, St. Jude, Indianapolis, Oct. 5. Mother of Emily and Sarah Kays. Sister of Joanne Sauter and Raymond Sahm.

MYERS, Richard, 59, St. Malachy, Brownsburg, Oct. 14. Husband of Catherine Myers. Father of Catie, Mary and Rory Myers. Brother of Michael Boyd. Grandfather of one.

PIERCE, William, 63, Holy Family, New Albany, Oct. 25. Husband of Theresa Pierce. Father of Juli Ring and BJ Pierce. Brother of Carolyn Gardner, Christine Hutcherson, Charles, Jim, John and Stephen Pierce. Grandfather of four.

RENNIER, Mary A., 85, Holy Spirit, Indianapolis, Oct. 22. Wife of Carl Rennier. Mother of Tina Boling, Anna Harvey, Debbie Snow, Floyd, James, Joe and Steve Rennier. Sister of Connie Christianson, Carolyn Zentz and Albert Duvall. Grandmother and great-grandmother of several.

ROHAN, Edward M., 82, St. Luke the Evangelist, Indianapolis, Oct. 29. Husband of Barbara Rohan. Father of Christina, Patrick and Peter Rohan. Grandfather of 10.

RUTHERFORD, Mary (Hilgenhold), 88, St. Michael, Cannelton, Oct. 28. Mother of Susan Smith, Ann Sullivan and Jeff Rutherford. Grandmother of five. Great-grandmother of five.

SCHROEDER, Ronald, 88, Holy Spirit, Indianapolis, Oct. 29. Husband of Betty Schroeder. Father of Karen Scott and Donald Schroeder. Brother of Melissa Bowen. Grandfather of two. Great-grandfather of four.

SMITH, Raymond, 77, St. Malachy, Brownsburg, Oct. 10. Husband of Linda Smith. Father of Jennifer Alston, Dianna Rains, Rachel, Douglas and Matthew Smith. Grandfather of 11. Great-grandfather of one.

TUCKER, Rose Marie, 92, Holy Family, New Albany, Oct. 26. Mother of Patty Duffy, Tammy Simms, Linda Stein, Carol Wibbels, Gary and Rick Tucker. Sister of Frank Ringley. Grandmother of 14. Great-grandmother of 15.

Franciscan Sister Joan Luerman served in Catholic schools for 55 years

Franciscan Sister Joan Luerman died on Nov. 4 at the motherhouse of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Oldenburg. She was 86.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Nov. 10 at the Motherhouse Chapel in Oldenburg. Burial followed at the sisters’ cemetery.

Sister Joan was born on Aug. 17, 1935, in Richmond, where she grew up as a member of the former St. Andrew Parish there. She joined the Sisters of St. Francis on Sept. 7, 1953, and professed final vows in on Aug. 12, 1959. Sister Joan earned a bachelor’s degree at Marian University in Indianapolis and master’s degrees at Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa, and at Seattle University in Seattle.

During 68 years as a member of the Sisters of St. Francis, Sister Joan ministered in Catholic education for 55 years in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio before retiring to the motherhouse in 2010.

In the archdiocese, she served in Indianapolis at Our Lady of Lourdes School from 1955-56 and at St. Christopher School from 1975-78. Sister Joan also served at St. Vincent de Paul School in Bedford from 1958-64 and 1981-2010. In her second period at St. Vincent, she also ministered as a pastoral associate in the Bloomington Deanery faith community.

In 2003, Sister Joan was honored with a career achievement award at the archdiocese’s Celebrating Catholic School Values gala.

Sister Joan is survived by her sisters Frances DeLucio of Richmond, Antonia Krebs of Wisconsin, and Mary Coblentz of Florida.

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