Tuesday, February 25, 2025
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: STEPHENSON RIFE ATTORNEYS
BASKETBALL BENEFIT
Ms. Stephanie Munger, Kendrick Hook and Camden Thoman took first place in yesterday’s three-on-three basketball tournament at Shelbyville Middle School, a SCUFFY benefit organized by Mr. Drew Parsley. Second-place went to Layden Fitzgerald, Parsley and Tucker Schultz. Nick Larner, Noah Bennett and Xavier McGraw-Fuller placed third. | SUBMITTED
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: FULL CANOPY REAL ESTATE
NOTEBOOK:
The Shelbyville Aviation Board on Friday approved Jeff Air Flight School to lease office space and operate at the local airport. The school, which is based out of Anderson, is moving out of its Greenwood location. The Shelbyville Airport is returning to being a city-operated facility instead of utilizing a contractor.
A vehicle hit a pothole in the Walmart parking lot, causing damage to the front driver’s side. The vehicle appeared to have broken suspension parts on the front tire and was inoperable.
The Shelbyville Fire Department is hiring firefighters/paramedics. Minimum requirements and the application are available here.
Editor’s Note: Comcast spam filters appeared to be working overtime yesteday. If you don’t see the edition, all editions are posted immediately here.
HOOSIER NEWS: Property taxes in Indiana are the seventh-lowest in the nation on a per capita basis. Though almost everyone says they want lower taxes, folks are actually moving to places with higher taxes. Since 2010, all the population growth in Indiana has come in just a few high tax counties. Growing counties have a total state and local tax rate that is 34% higher than the counties that have lost population. The 10 fastest-growing counties have an effective state and local tax rate that is 238% higher than the 10 fastest-shrinking counties, and pay 131% higher property taxes per resident ($937 more per year). People, of course, aren’t moving to those places because of high taxes. Rather, they are moving there to access the public services those taxes provide. (Michael Hicks, Ph.D., IndyStar)
NATIONAL NEWS: Fallingwater, the Frank Lloyd Wright house, leaks in dozens of places, and is currently undergoing an effort to make it watertight at a cost of around $7 million. This is 40 times the cost of building it in the 1930s. The walls of Fallingwater look like solid stone, but they are actually hollow masonry tubes. While the cavities were originally filled with sandstone, all of that has been settling for decades. It’s a hard project to waterproof now, let alone in the 1930s, and Wright rejected the use of copper flashing where the roof intersects walls. The solution is to pump liquid grout into the hollow walls and add lead flashing (not copper) to keep the thing waterproof. (The Wall Street Journal/Numlock)
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SHS Courier Archive Highlights
Feb. 19, 1931, Part I
SHS Journalism students watched a New York Times video about the newspaper’s operations. The 32-page paper had a 500,000 circulation during the week and 750,000 on weekends.
Fifty-one students and three teachers had been absent on a recent day due to the flu.
The subject of a recent faculty professional development session had been “Questioning”, which covered how to ask good questions and develop tests.
Many school staff members lived near the building. Principal Loper, Assistant Principal Breck, teachers Otto Harris, Coach “Mac” McCullough, J.O. Trible, Ada Marie Barnes, Cecil Puckett and Charles Whitaker and janitors Mr. and Mrs. Emmet Smith, all lived within a couple of blocks from school. “West Hendricks is the most popular, for several live within one block centered around the Morris Garage with Mr. Loper around the corner on Tompkins and Mr. John Densford, Mr. Martin Schulz, Miss Fannie Orebaugh, Mrs. Susie Rhodes, Mr. W.F. Vogel, Miss Merle Evans, Miss Lorena Williams and Miss Naomi Haworth live within a block.” Teachers who lived on Mechanic included Mr. J.M. McKeand, Miss Delores McDonald, Miss Eva Swanson and Mrs. Tamma Timmons. Three teachers drove from out of town: Miss Georgia Moore, from Fountaintown; Miss Eulalie Mull, Homer; and Mr. W.G. Thompson, Waldron. “Mrs. Charles Knaub, Mr. McKeand, Miss Esther Kinsley, Mrs. Cora Tindall, Miss McDonald and Miss Dorothy Hale live in such a location that Dorothy stated, ‘If fire broke out all would use the same fire box and fire plug for protection.’”
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This Day in Shelby County History
News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated by The Addison Times from Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department materials.
2005: A car stolen in Shelbyville wound up in Sugar Creek without a driver. A newspaper photo showed Justin Parker, a member of the Shelby County River Rescue Team, attaching a cable to the partially submerged car. Ross Wrecker was able to recover the vehicle and move it to an impound lot.
1995: A local man’s assets were frozen after police charged him with racketeering. They seized more than $80,000 in cash as well as guns and rare coins from the man’s Hendricks Ave. home. The man was arrested after a police informant wearing a voice transmitter sold him stolen property for $150. The informant told him several times the merchandise was stolen and “hot,” police said. Attorney Kris Meltzer successfully argued against a prosecutor’s request for $100,000 bond, noting the man’s money had been taken and his family lived in Shelbyville. “I don’t know that (the client has) gone anywhere in years,” Meltzer said.
1985: Phones were out for 90 minutes at the Shelbyville Police Department after the boiler room reached 105 degrees, causing circuits to melt. The emergency number, 911, remained in operation. The 911 number was on a rotary system, while the other lines were electronic.
1975: Shelbyville’s own Tarzan, James Pierce, was here for a visit. Pierce, 75, was one of 16 men who had portrayed the jungle man in movies and radio shows. He had been in Bloomington to donate some Tarzan drawings. His great-niece, Cristi Orem, a freshman at IU, escorted James on campus. Pierce, known as “Babe”, had also played on Indiana University’s championship football teams and was an All-American. He visited with his relatives, Jamie and Janet Orem and family, while here.
Loper Elementary captured the fifth-grade city basketball championship. Cheerleaders were Kim Rubush, Kae McNew, Carolyn Graham, Denise Lawson, Rhonda House, Annette Kinder and Sharon Cord. Players were Carl Muncy, Keith Pitcock, Chris Stiers, Mark Coers, Pat Norman, Brian Kehrt, Dave Passwater, Mark Kennard, Kevin Caplinger, Kip Talbert, Tim Staker, Jeff Knecht and Robbie Bryan. Dave Wimmer was the coach. The team finished the season with an 11-1 record.
1965: A swirling snowstorm with 50-mile-per-hour winds buried the county and closed most roads, including I-74. All city and county schools were closed, and the Columbus sectional was postponed.
Jack Kemp, star quarterback for the champion Buffalo Bills pro football team, was the luncheon toastmaster at an Easter Seal kick-off dinner here.
1955: City bus transportation owner Richard Kramer announced the company was closing. He had attempted to sell the six-year-old business, but a potential buyer had backed out. The service included one bus operating all day on Kennedy Car Liner Co. and Miller St. routes in addition to a school run in the morning and afternoon.
1945: Sgt. Irven Roy Perkins Jr., listed as missing in action since Feb. 12, 1944, was declared dead by the War Department. Sgt. Perkins had been employed at the Stephan Bros. Shoe Store before entering the service. The government had said he was lost while returning from a mission in Italy. His plane was seen doing down southwest of Naples but no trace of the county soldier was found. Perkins was a Fairland High School graduate in 1940.
1935: Edward Ross, 48, was crushed under the wheels of a freight train after apparently not hearing the whistle and bell of the train and stepping onto the tracks at the Walker Street crossing. The engineer said Ross appeared “to be either deaf or to be lost in thought.” He had been here staying with his half-brother, Charles Atkins of Indiana Ave., and an aunt, Nancy McCarty of Walker St.
1925: Shelbyville High School hosted a Latin contest featuring five county high schools. Individual winners were Elsie Trible, Margaret Talbert, Winfield Scott, Mary Ellen Yarling, Mary Lee Davis, Eva Smith, Alfred Campbell, Dorothy Hale, Richard Jones and Stella Miller.
1915: An “arousing” revival was underway at the Methodist church in Waldron. More than 70 had converted during the revival, The Republican said, with a Pentecostal “outpouring of the Spirit” a regular feature at the services.
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OBITUARIES
Herbert John Brant III, age 66, of Indianapolis, Indiana passed away on Thursday, February 13, 2025, at home with his husband at his side.
Herbert was born in Kirkland, Washington to Herbert John Brant and Dorothy Jean (Langille) Brant on October 31, 1958. He graduated from Forest View High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois in 1976.
Herbert married Eric Joseph Sutton on May 27, 2014, in Long Beach, California. He graduated from Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois in 1980, where he received his BA in Spanish and French. Herbert then earned a Masters in the Teaching of Spanish from The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 1985. He completed his education with a Ph.D. in Spanish at UIUC in 1990, where he completed his doctoral dissertation on the fiction of Jorge Luis Borges, one of Argentina’s most important writers of the 20th Century.
Herbert taught courses as an Assistant Professor of Spanish at Gettysburg College (PA), and Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana) before coming to Indiana University Indianapolis where he was an Associate Professor of Spanish. His published research has appeared in numerous academic journals and collected volumes, and he conducted his research in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Herbert retired in 2023 after 30 years of service to Indiana University.
Because of Herbert’s talent in calligraphy, he developed a fondness for beautiful fountain pens and inks of many colors. He enjoyed creating print materials for his classes and sending letters and cards to his family and friends.
Herbert is preceded in death by his parents. Herbert is survived by Eric Sutton (husband), Douglas Brant (brother), Leslie Smith (sister) and numerous nieces and nephews.
A memorial gathering for Herbert will be held Sunday, March 2, 2025, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Crown Hill Funeral Home & Cemetery, 700 W. 38th St., Indianapolis, Indiana 46208, with a Celebration of Life, at 2:00 PM, followed by a luncheon. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Herbert's memory may be made to IndyHumane, 7929 Michigan Rd, Indianapolis, Ind., 46268, www.indyhumane.org.
Marylin Joan Coers, 94, of Shelbyville, passed away on Thursday, February 20, 2025, at Willows of Shelbyville. Joan was born on July 9, 1930, to Eric E. and Alma (Ensminger) Huber in Shelby County. On September 26, 1966, she married Stephen Coers and he passed away on December 16, 1980.
Joan worked on the farm and also for the Shelby County Farm Bureau. Later she worked at Village Square Apartments.
In 1948, she graduated from Fairland High School. Joan was a member of Mount Pisgah Baptist Church.
She was preceded in death by her parents; sister, Lois Eileen Huber Williamson; and niece, Diana Williamson Imel. Joan is survived by her nieces, Teresa Guertsloh, Melanie Putnam and Sunday Crawford; great nieces and nephews; and sister-in-law, Suzanne Hitchcock.
Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friday, February 28, 2025 at Freeman Family Funeral Homes and Crematory, Carmony-Ewing Chapel, 819 S. Harrison St. in Shelbyville. Funeral services will follow at 1 p.m. Interment will be at Forest Hill Cemetery. Online condolences may be shared with Joan’s family at www.freemanfamilyfuneralhomes.com.
Donald Wayne Bush, 88, of Shelbyville passed away Saturday, February 22, 2025, at Millers Merry Manor, Hope, Ind. He was born June 18, 1936, in Northern Shelby County to William Bush and Marian (Collins) Bush. Mr. Bush attended Morristown High School. He married Janet Gail Bush on November 3, 1957, and she survives. They treasured 67 dedicated and loving years of marriage.
He is also survived by his son, Ronald Bush of Shelbyville, his daughter, Carol da Silva of Waldron, his grandson, Alex da Silva, his granddaughters, Lisa (Matt) Jacobs, and Nichole (Weston) Taylor, his great-grandchildren, Gavin Gellizeau, Harmony Jacobs, and James Taylor, his brother, Larry Bush, his sister, Nora Ann Leach, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, and his brothers, Charles Bush, John Bush, and Richard Bush.
Don was a soft-spoken man who was quick to smile and always the first to volunteer to help – no matter what the need was. He loved people and enjoyed sitting around chatting with neighbors and friends in his spare time, but his family was his greatest joy. He was a 68-year member of the Flat Rock Christian Church where he served in various capacities through the years including janitor, deacon, and trustee. He was a proud member of the church’s “Over the Hill Gang” – a group of men who met weekly for breakfast and church maintenance. At the time of his final illness, Don was still serving as a Trustee and was recently awarded a Trustee Emeritus award from the Church Board of Directors. He was a strong man, both spiritually and physically, and was known to work like “three men and a mule”. He worked full-time for 40 years on night shift for Amos Plastics in Edinburgh – which changed names several times by the time he retired. In addition, he worked several side jobs during the day. Some of those included his own trash route, digging graves by hand at several local cemeteries, serving as a volunteer firefighter with the Flat Rock Volunteer Fire Department and occasionally helping his father-in-law and other local farmers during planting and harvest seasons. When not working, you could find him on a lawn mower, working his scrap metal pile or relaxing in his recliner enjoying Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy.
Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m, Saturday, March 1, 2025, at the Flat Rock Christian Church, 2854 W. Pope Street, Flat Rock, Ind., 47234. Funeral services will follow at 1 p.m. at the church with Pastor Brian Ebersold officiating. The burial will be in the Flat Rock Cemetery. Funeral Directors Greg Parks, Sheila Parks, and Stuart Parks are honored to serve Don’s family. The family requests no Lilly flowers to be sent due to allergies. Memorial contributions may be given to the Flat Rock Christian Church in honor of Don. Online condolences may be shared at www.murphyparks.com.
Rita Jane Covalt, 95, of Morristown, passed away on Sunday, February 23, 2025, at Major Health Partners in Shelbyville. She was born August 20, 1929, in Hancock County, the daughter of Charles H. and Ruby E. (Dismore) Schutt. On May 27, 1949, she married Marvin E. Covalt, and he preceded her in death on July 9, 2004. Rita is survived by her daughters, Christina Wilson and husband, Ken, of Morristown, and Jane Rodenhuis and husband, Jeff, of Morristown; grandchildren, Wendi, Erin, Kellie, Katie, Eric and Jill; eight great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; niece, Linda Buckland; and nephew, Philip Kelso. In addition to Marvin, Rita was preceded in death by her brother, Phillip Schutt; and sister, Charlene Northam.
Rita graduated in 1947, from Morristown High School. She was a member of the Gwynneville Christian Church. Rita was a homemaker and had formerly worked at Indiana Bell for two years. She enjoyed cooking and baking.
Visitation will be from 1 to 3 p.m., on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at the Gwynneville Christian Church, 7104 E. Mulberry St., in Gwynneville, Indiana 46144. Funeral service will follow at 3 p.m., with Ted Hagel officiating. Interment will be at Asbury Cemetery in Morristown. Services have been entrusted to Freeman Family Funeral Homes, 124 E. North St. in Morristown. Memorial contributions may be made to the Gwynneville Christian Church, PO Box 131, Gwynneville, Ind., 46144. Online condolences may be shared with Rita’s family at www.freemanfamilyfuneralhomes.com.