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)
BIR, Richard A., 67, St. Anne, New Castle, June 6. Brother of Rebecca Upchurch, Anna, Mary and David Bir. Uncle of several.
BOHMAN, Henry L., 78, St. Catherine of Siena, Decatur County, June 9. Husband of Darlene Bohman. Father of Sharon Miller and Jeff Bohman. Grandfather of four.
BONOMO, Leo, 92, Sacred Heart, Clinton, June 7. Husband of Agnes Bonomo. Father of Veda Jo Gregory. Grandfather of two.
DAMIN, Early, 92, St. Paul, Tell City, June 7. Husband of Emma Damin. Father of Tanya Walzer, Bob, Dave, Mark, Mike and Philip Damin. Brother of Ellanora Schneider and Herbert Damin. Grandfather of seven. Great-grandfather of five.
DEVORE, Viola (Engle), 98, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, New Albany, June 12. Mother of Pam Chapman and Debbie Scott. Sister of Lorena Curtsinger. Grandmother of two. Great-grandmother of three.
ENGLE, Elizabeth Ann (Wiseman), 84, St. Mary-of-the-Knobs, Floyd County, June 14. Mother of Karen Bleemel, Annette Koch, Donald, Douglas, Jeffrey and Timothy Engle. Sister of Loretto Sister Bernardine, Doris and Loretto Sister Theresa Louise Wiseman. Stepsister of Mary Lou Bauman and Paul Ehringer. Grandmother of 25. Great-grandmother of six.
ENNEKING, Richard A., 62, St. Louis, Batesville, June 8. Husband of Janice Enneking. Father of Jeff, John, Loren and Rick Enneking II. Brother of Jeanie Kramer, Donna Kraus, Marilyn and Patti Weberding, Dan, Jim and Ron Enneking. Grandfather of three.
FLEDDERMAN, Berta C., 82, St. Gabriel, Connersville, June 2. Mother of Sandra Peters, Linda Reese and Wayne Fledderman. Sister of Rita Berger and Alice Hughes. Grandmother of nine. Great-grandmother of five.
FOLTZ, Ruth, 75, Holy Family, Richmond, June 4. Wife of Harry Foltz. Mother of Julie Reed, Vickie and Kevin Foltz. Sister of Alice Wood, Bill, Paul and Phil Behnen. Grandmother of two.
HAGNER, Margaret Mary, 88, St. Jude, Indianapolis, June 6. Wife of Herman Hagner. Mother of Andrea Schultz and Joseph Hagner. Sister of Betty Roth, Coletta Valentine and Art Thornbury. Grandmother of three. Great-grandmother of one.
HARPE, Opal M., 88, St. Paul, Tell City, June 10. Mother of Bret Harpe. Sister of Eloise and Pauline Hughes, Geneva Scott and Helen Vogeman. Grandmother of five. Great-grandfather of five.
HIGGINS, Vincent, 47, Our Lady of Lourdes, May 10. Father of Emily, Hannah, Karissa, Zoe and Christopher Higgins. Son of Viola Higgins. Brother of Julie Biddle, Teresa McQueen, Diana Mover, Dennis, Jeff, Kevin, Mark and Tim Higgins.
Jeanne Duvelius, 76, mother of Father Dennis Duvelius, died on June 11
Jeanne Duvelius, the mother of Father Dennis Duvelius, pastor of St. Mark Parish in Perry County and St. Paul Parish in Tell City, died on June 11 at Community North Hospital in Indianapolis. She was 76.
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on June 16 at Holy Family Church in Oldenburg. Burial followed in that parish’s cemetery.
Jeanne Duvelius was born on June 15, 1939, in Batesville. She attended St. Louis School in Batesville, the Oldenburg Academy of the Immaculate Conception in Oldenburg and the Indiana University School of Nursing. At the time of her death, Duvelius was a retired registered nurse.
She married her husband, Daniel Duvelius, who survives her, on Sept. 13, 1958, at St. Louis Church in Batesville. She is also survived by her daughter, Diana Feyka, and her sons, Jeffrey and Father Dennis Duvelius, three grandchildren and her sister, Darlene Meyer.
At the time of her death, Duvelius was a member of St. Lawrence Parish in Indianapolis. In the summer, she enjoyed planting and caring for flowers, feeding birds and fishing for bluegill. In the winter, she watched the Indianapolis Colts and knitted baby blankets for her family, especially for her future great-grandchildren.
Memorial gifts may be sent to the Indiana Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center, 8326 Naab Road, Indianapolis, IN 46260, or the National Autism Association, 1 Park Avenue, Suite 1, Portsmouth, RI 02871.
Benedictine Father Damian Schmelz was college seminary professor, leader in Indiana ecology, Sagamore of the Wabash
Benedictine Father Damian Schmelz, a monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, died on June 12 in the monastery infirmary. He was 84.
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on June 18. According to Father Damian’s request, his remains will be donated to the Indiana University School of Medicine. Burial will follow at a later date at the Archabbey Cemetery.
Father Damian was a jubilarian of monastic profession, having celebrated 62 years of monastic profession. He was also a jubilarian of ordination, having celebrated 58 years of life and ministry as a priest
Vincent Eugene Schmelz was born on May 7, 1932, in Georgetown, Ind., and grew up as a member of St. Mary Parish in Lanesville.
Father Damian entered Saint Meinrad’s former Minor Seminary in 1950, and was invested as a novice at Saint Meinrad Archabbey in 1952.
He professed temporary vows on July 31, 1953, and solemn vows on Aug. 6, 1957. He was ordained a priest on May 3, 1958.
Father Damian earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the former Saint Meinrad College, and a bachelor’s degree in sacred theology from Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology and from The Catholic University of America.
After his priestly ordination, Father Damian began teaching biology in the former Saint Meinrad High School. During summers, he pursued graduate studies at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., earning a master’s degree in plant ecology in 1964 and a doctorate in that field in 1969. He taught biology at the former Saint Meinrad College until it closed in 1998.
Father Damian also served in the college’s administration at different periods as assistant dean of students, academic dean, provost and vice rector. He also managed The UnStable, the campus pub, for 25 years.
He was active as a member of the Indiana Academy of Science, which he joined in 1966, receiving their Outstanding Service Award in 2003.
He was known for his research in Indiana old-growth forests, and was chairman of a blue-ribbon committee assigned to study controlled deer hunts in Brown County State Park. He and a colleague specialized in the area of Donaldson’s Woods, a nature preserve managed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources in south-central Indiana. In 2000, an addition to the Donaldson’s Woods Nature Preserve was dedicated in his honor.
Father Damian served for 33 years on the Indiana Natural Resources Commission and was co-author in 1969 of Natural Areas of Indiana, which served as a guide for the creation of Indiana’s Natural Preserves.
In 2007, he was awarded a Lifetime Conservation Achievement Award by the Indiana Wildlife Federation. Two years later, he was inducted as a member of the inaugural class of the Indiana Conservation Hall of Fame.
In 2015, Father Damian was named a Sagamore of the Wabash, the highest honor bestowed by the Governor of Indiana.
Most recently, he served as pastor of St. Henry Parish in St. Henry, Ind., in the Evansville Diocese from 2001-15 when declining health led to his retirement.
Memorial gifts may be sent to Saint Meinrad Archabbey, 200 Hill Drive, St. Meinrad, IN 47577. †