Saturday, March 2, 2024
CURTAIN CALL
Addi West and Sophia Idlewine, foreground, as Young Anna and Young Elsa, take their bows at last night’s “Frozen Jr.” production. Despite a late addition of seats, the show sold out. The final performance is tonight, 7 p.m., at the Shelbyville Middle School cafetorium. Adults are $8 and students, $5. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
Funeral Attendees Encouraged to Pay It Forward
“Acts of Kindness” envelopes, such as the one pictured above, were distributed to attendees at Eric Dickmann’s funeral last month at Freeman Family Funeral Home. | photo by JACK BOYCE
Attendees at Eric Dickmann’s funeral last month were surprised to receive envelopes with “Acts of Kindness” embossed on the front and $20 inside. The gesture was the brainchild of Eric’s brother, Brad Dickmann.
“My brother always helped others and wouldn’t take any money,” Brad Dickmann said. “I wanted people to use the money to help somebody else.”
They did. Several have already reported back, with one giving his allotment to a family at a local dollar store.
“Eric started over many times,” Brad said, explaining his brother’s long-standing issues with drug addiction.
Despite the impact of addiction on the entire family, Brad said he and his brothers, Fred and Rod, have fond memories of Eric and of growing up in Shelbyville.
“We were all raised by the greatest generation,” Brad Dickmann said. “We had a great childhood.”
Rod Dickmann and his son, Joe, live in homes on West Broadway Street, and both Eric and Brad returned to their West Mechanic Street roots in recent years, renovating two properties, one the former Arlene’s Style-ette. Eric lived in an adjacent apartment, and outside his door was a chalkboard sign he often updated. Just before his death, he changed the sign to, “Gone to Florida.”
Although the coroner’s report has not been finalized, the brothers are coming to terms with Eric’s sudden passing.
“It’s important to never give up on family,” Brad Dickmann said. “I hope (the $20 envelopes) will help someone in Eric’s honor. I just wanted to end on a good note with him.”
BELOW: Brothers Rod, Fred and Brad Dickmann visit at the funeral home following the death of their brother, Eric Dickmann. | submitted
NOTEBOOK:
The following building permits were issued in Shelbyville last month: new home construction on Bluebonnet Place (Summerfield subdivision), Marjorie Way and James Pierce Drive (Bear Run) and Oak Leaf Way (Twelve Oaks); construct a new wall at Edward Jones, 406 Miller Ave.; remodel Harrison Discount Tobacco, 300 S. Harrison St.; bathroom added to 843 S. Tompkins St.; and remodel at 845 S. Tompkins St.
NATIONAL NEWS: The IRS is cracking down on high-earning Americans who have not filed tax returns, sending 125,000 notices to Americans making over $400,000 who simply neglected to file a return between 2017 and 2021. Until recently, the IRS has lacked the staff to find rich tax dodgers and send the nonfilers the appropriate paperwork to provoke an audit. The first 25,000 letters will go to ought-to-have-been-taxpayers with over $1 million in income, and then another 100,000 letters will go to those making $400,000 to $1 million. (Wall Street Journal/Numlock)
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This Day in Shelby County History
2014: A winter storm dropped freezing rain, sleet and snow across the county, with over five inches of snow falling throughout the day.
2004: The Shelbyville Common Council approved annexing 186 acres for a new public park, bordered by Old Rushville Road and I-74.
1994: Chamber of Commerce officials announced plans to usher in the holidays in Shelbyville with a parade, which had been dormant at least 30 years. (Santa had just been arriving on a fire truck in recent years.) With many locals leaving the county to shop on the day after Thanksgiving, Chamber officials hoped to increase interest in local options. The parade would begin at Porter Pool and head toward Public Square.
1984: Leap Day sales had been slow, local businesses reported, in part due to more than 10 inches of snow on the ground. JC Penney’s 29 percent sale was also a flop. However, overall sales for the year were decent, Lowell Brown, sales manager at Robin’s TV, said. Other local businessmen, such as Jerry Parmer, sales manager at Schmalbausen-Siebert, agreed.
1974: Emergency Attendant James Bogeman and Patrolman Larry Tharp helped deliver Carolyn Sue Carver’s baby boy at home. It was not uncommon for local police to assist with child delivery, and Det. Lt. James Pruett had the record with nine such assists.
Andrea Davis, Fairland, third grade student at Triton Elementary, won the SCUFFY art contest and a new Schwinn bicycle. Her sister Angela had been the SCUFFY poster contest winner two years’ prior.
For the fifth time in the plant’s history, employees of the Admiral Corporation rejected union representation, this time by a 115 to 43 vote. The first such rejection had been in 1947.
1964: Receipts from city parking meters in 1963 had been the highest in a decade.
Ron Chambers, 16, was named Shelby County Youth Center’s Teen of the Month. Ron’s sister Mickey had recently been elected REC Sweetheart for 1964. Ron had been a member of the SHS football team and the boys’ cheer block.
1954: Local Democrats held their Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner at the Elks Club, with approximately 300 in attendance. The guest speaker charged Republicans with “turning back the clock 20 years so far as farmers are concerned” due to Eisenhower’s proposal to lower government prices for commodities. The speaker said Eisenhower had “conferenced with people who make their living off of farmers rather than by farming.”
The Glidden Building Materials Company, 53 Fourth St., purchased the lumber interests, property, equipment and real estate of J.H. Deitzer and Sons Company, 818 S. Pike St., one of the community’s oldest and best-known firms. Deitzer’s assets included three warehouses, a lumber millwork building, trucks and an office building. The phone number for both companies would be 800 moving forward.
1944: A tin can collection would be made citywide, Vincent Evans, chairman of the Tin Can Salvage Committee, announced. Cans were to be placed in paper sacks or boxes on street corners. Those in rural areas were asked to leave cans on the street in front of the Sunlit Motor Sales building on the corner of Broadway and Pike.
1934: Thirteen of the 14 township assessors in Shelby County were denied getting deputy positions for 1934 due to the budget crunch. Addison Township was the only exception.
Addison Township school closed was closed until March 12 due to 74 of the 242 students being ill with pink-eye. Scattered cases of measles had also been reported.
1924: Local newspapers reported the first sign of spring: robins had returned to Shelbyville. The paper said the robins were no doubt glad to be back, since people in the south “have the gross notion that robins are good to eat.”
Work on building a Standard Oil Company filling station at Harrison and Hendricks St. began.
1914: Dr. John Eberhart, Lewis Creek area dentist, was badly burned when a gasoline-powered dental tool he was using exploded. Ernest Maple, the patient, had his eyebrows singed off. “The explosion was so violent that a number of window panes were knocked into the yard. The chairs in the room were knocked over as if they had been feathers,” The Republican said.
A man named Pat, who claimed to be from Baltimore, had been arrested while drunk and “making a speech” on East Washington Street the prior week. Police released him on the condition he would leave town. A few days later, he was arrested on Harrison St. “in a worse condition than he was on Saturday.” Police found money in his pockets, which was used to buy a train ticket to Indianapolis. Officers ushered him onto the train car and ensured it left the station.
OBITUARIES
Jennifer Robinson, 67, of Taylorsville, passed away Wednesday, February 28, 2024 at her mother's residence in Shelbyville. Born September 10, 1956 in Indianapolis, she was the daughter of Richard Fredrick McCray and Wilma Jean (Ralston) McCray. She married Steven R. Robinson and he preceded her on September 11, 2007.
Survivors include her mother, Wilma Jean McCray of Shelbyville; her children: son, Douglas Robinson of Avon and two daughters, Amy Jo West (John) of Shelbyville and Angie Lockard (Michael) of Ninevah. She is also survived by her sister, Pam Pearson (Greg) of Shelbyville; loving pets, Louise and Daisy Mae and six grandchildren: Nik Rice (Jessa); Blayke Shrader; Clyde Dylan Robinson; Erin Robinson; Michael Lockard Jr; and Haleigh Lockard. She was preceded in death by her father; spouse; brother, Mark McCray; and daughter-in-law, Jennifer Carrier.
Mrs. Robinson lived in this area her entire life and attended Triton Central High School. She loved any outdoor activities, spending time with her grandchildren, sitting around a campfire with friends and family, and listening to Neil Young songs.
Funeral services will be at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 at Glenn E. George & Son Funeral Home, 437 Amos Road, Shelbyville with Chaplain Mike Crocket officiating. Friends may call at the funeral home on Tuesday from 1:00pm until the time of the service. Burial will be at Fairland Cemetery. Memorial contributions can be made to the Shelbyville/Shelby County Animal Shelter in care of the funeral home. Online condolences may be shared at glennegeorgeandson.com.
Brian R. “Duke” Norris, 73, of Shelbyville, passed away Thursday, February 29, 2024, at MHP Medical Center in Shelbyville. He was born September 21, 1950, in Pittsburg, California, the son of Donald Lee and Patsy Ruth (Hewitt) Norris. On June 21, 1969, he married Marcia Diane Dale, and she preceded him in death on February 13, 2004.
Duke is survived by his daughter, Deidra Norris of Shelbyville; son, Derik Norris of Shelbyville; grandchildren, Luke Norris and wife, Grace, Lani Norris, Kirk Crafton and wife, Jennifer, Zachary Crafton and wife, Ashley, Noah Schneider and wife, Crystal; and great-grandchildren, Clark, Niko, Rowen, and Remi Crafton, and Miles Duke Schneider. In addition to Marcia, Duke was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Pamela Bettes.
He graduated from Waldron High School in 1968. Duke retired in 2006, from Farm Bureau Insurance, where he was a computer programmer for 37 years. He enjoyed traveling and music. He was the manager for his son’s band “Chapter 11”.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 pm, Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Freeman Family Funeral Homes, 819 S. Harrison Street in Shelbyville. Funeral services will be at 10 am, Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at the funeral home, with Rev. Mark Dodd officiating. Interment will be at Forest Hill Cemetery in Shelbyville. Memorial contributions may be made to the Cancer Association of Shelby County, PO Box 844, Shelbyville, Indiana 46176. Online condolences may be shared with Duke’s family at www.freemanfamilyfuneralhomes.com.