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)

ADAMS III, John W., 74, St. Pius X, Indianapolis, Sept. 28. Husband of Mary Beth Adams. Father of Johnny, Patrick, Stephen and Tim Adams. Brother of Jill Meyer. Grandfather of eight.

BESSLER, Margery T., 84, Holy Family, Oldenburg, Sept. 27.

DICKMAN, Elizabeth, 74, St. Paul, Tell City, Sept. 19. Mother of Misty Harris. Sister of Peggy Cardin, Carolyn Cash, Nickii Freeman, Connie Kahler, Brenda Simpson, Judy, Henry and Richard Sumner. Grandmother of three.

DOLL, Donna V., 68, Holy Family, Oldenburg, Sept. 29. Sister of Julie Eckstein, Mary Ellen Grossman, Cathy Schene and George Doll. Aunt and great-aunt of several.

DRISTAS, Beth Ann, 58, St. Jude, Indianapolis, Sept. 16. Wife of Christopher Dristas. Mother of Maeci Dristas and Raegan Dristas-Otley. Sister of Janet Bozak, Sandy Furman, Bobbie Lemmons, Patty Masty, Jerry, Ray and Ron Wojkovich. Grandmother of one.

DUERSTOCK, Riley H., 21, St. Louis, Batesville, Sept. 4. Daughter of Deron and Jill Duerstock. Granddaughter of Janet Blair. Sister of Ryan Duerstock.

FAULKENBERG, Kelly, 66, St. Paul, Tell City, Oct. 13, 2022. Husband of Suzanne Faulkenberg.

GIFFORD, MaryLou, 73, St. Jude, Indianapolis, Sept. 22. Mother of Shannon Doody Burke, Brian Doody and Cory Gifford. Sister of Ron Rinear. Grandmother of 10. Great-grandmother of four.

GROTE, Geralene, 80, All Saints, Dearborn County, Sept. 27. Wife of Joe Grote. Mother of Deborah McIntyre and Rick Grubb. Sister of Betty Allen, Kathy Brock, Margaret Brown and Jack Hinkle. Grandmother of three. Great-grandmother of six. Great-great-grandmother of six.

GUNN, Kim, 64, St. Paul, Tell City, Sept. 28. Wife of Bill Gunn. Mother of Brooke McWhirter, Kara and Trent Gunn. Daughter of Ruby Koressel. Sister of Tim Koressel. Grandmother of five.

HORNBACH, Andrew J., 92, All Saints, Dearborn County, Sept. 26. Husband of Fran Hornbach. Brother of Margie Wendel. Grandfather of two. Great-grandfather of two.

KEATTS, Charles E., 81, St. Jude, Indianapolis, Sept. 26. Husband of Geraldine Keatts. Father of Tresa Henschen and Ruth Price. Brother of Star Ragsdale, Jackie Rosemeyer and Lane Keatts. Grandfather of five. Great-grandfather of 10.

MEEK, Frieda (Neiman), 89, St. Mary, Greensburg, Sept. 26. Mother of Kevin Meek. Grandmother of three. Great-grandmother of six.

MEYER, Gary U., 69, St. Mary-of-the-Rock, Franklin County, Sept. 25. Husband of Sue Meyer. Brother of Eileen Duff, Susan Everage, Grace Schneider, Yvonne Schneider, Carolyn Sorber, Mary Louise, Eugene, Jerome, Joe and John Meyer. Uncle and great-uncle of several.

PATTERSON, Leoncia, 66, St. Martin of Tours, Martinsville, Sept. 22. Mother of Leslie Gitsis, Kelly Fuller-McCreery, Aimee Shafer, Olivia, Charles, Joel and Nolan Patterson. Sister of Helen Balingit, Corkie Ford, Teresa Franklin, Carmelita Hale-Scott, Zenaida Hunt, Ben Balingit, Matjeu, Paul and Tony Stapleton. Grandmother of seven. Great-grandmother of one.

SANDIFER, Charles, 89, St. Mary, New Albany, Sept. 14. Father of Shannon Speth, Andrew and Scott Sandifer. Grandfather of seven. Great-grandfather of five.

SCHUBERT, Rebecca, 77, St. Martin of Tours, Martinsville, Sept. 23. Mother of Michaelann Davis, Tracy Oaks, Bernadette Roy, Denise, Dale and Eric Schubert. Sister of Philip Jones. Grandmother of six.

SIEFERT, Ruth M., 85, St. Louis, Batesville, Sept. 23. Mother of Anita Dieckman, Tom and Wayne Siefert. Sister of Mildred Cutter. Grandmother of seven. Great-grandmother of four.

SNYDER, Mary Ann (Welsh), 88, St. Gabriel, Connersville, Sept. 28. Mother of Jama Maenza, Doug, Eric, Patrick and Paul Welsh. Stepmother of Betty Freeland, Brian, Clay, Laird, Michael and Samuel Snyder. Grandmother of eight. Great-grandmother of four. Step-grandmother and step-great-grandmother of several.

WEISENBACH, Rose A., 83, St. Anthony, Morris, Sept. 23. Wife of Raymond Weisenbach. Mother of Kim Hountz, Krissy Jackson, Shari Strassell, Sandy Volk, Jeff, Joe and John Weisenbach. Sister of Jacqueline Armbruster. Grandmother of 17. Great-grandmother of 24. Step-grandmother of one. Step-great-grandmother of five.

Benedictine Brother Jerome Croteau had a variety of monastery work assignments

Benedictine Brother Jerome Croteau, a monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, died on Sept. 30 at the monastery. He was 94.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Oct. 5. Burial followed at the Archabbey Cemetery.

Brother Jerome was a jubilarian of monastic profession, having celebrated 74 years of monastic profession.

Brother Jerome was born on April 8, 1929, in Belcourt, N.D., and given the name Adolph at his baptism. A Native American, he was a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and lived on what was at the time the smallest reservation in the U.S.

Brother Jerome was invested as a novice at Saint Meinrad in 1948. He professed simple vows on May 10, 1949, and perpetual vows in 1952. Those vows were solemnized on May 10, 1974.

Brother Jerome’s varied monastic assignments included assisting in the construction of St. Bede Hall at Saint Meinrad and on the building of Blue Cloud Abbey, a foundation of Saint Meinrad in Marvin, N.D.

At Saint Meinrad, he also worked in the archabbey sacristy, in its kitchen, vineyard and wine cellar, on the landscaping crew and as a carpenter and grave digger. Brother Jerome was also a longtime member of the St. Meinrad Volunteer Fire Department.

He is survived by a sister, Benedictine Sister Mary Claude Croteau of Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand, Ind., in the Evansville Diocese, and brothers Edward Croteau of Seattle, Francis Croteau of Denver and James Croteau of Bismarck, N.D.

Memorial gifts may be sent to Saint Meinrad Archabbey, 200 Hill Drive, St. Meinrad, IN 47577. †