The Indiana Funeral Education Foundation 

 Death is a universal human experience and yet it remains the ultimate mystery and grief the ultimate human experience. From the beginning of time, people have received comfort and support from those who have made it their life’s work to care for the dead and comfort the living. The mission and purpose of the Indiana Funeral Education Foundation is first to preserve and document that history. Second, to support the funeral service practitioners of today-- helping them to better serve their communities. And finally, to insure the secure future of the profession by helping recruit and train those wanting a career in funeral service.

Click here for the Indianan Funeral Education Foundation Scholarship Application.

 What is an Isaac Ball Fellow ? 

An Isaac Ball Fellow is one who has contributed at least $1,000 to the Indiana Educational Foundation. These contributors are the cornerstones of the Foundation. This level of commitment is named after Isaac Ball, the first president of the Indiana Funeral Directors Association who served from 1881-1882. The donation can be made either as a lump sum or in installments. The funds are placed in a separate and permanent endowment fund. Only the interest earned from the fund is used. The earnings fund a funeral service scholarship or other work of the Foundation as authorized by the Foundation board. Additional donations are denoted by color.

Distinguished $2500 | Diamond $5,000 | Emeritus over $5,000

Fellow List 
**deceased

1 Jerrit Clayton (1999) 78 Jack Spurgeon (2011)
2 J. Michael Blackwell (1999) 79 William Bieker (2011)
3 Ron Deremiah (1999) 80 Brad L. Myers (2011)
4 Millard Rullman (1999)** 81 Sean Wonder (in memory of Elbert Shaw) (2012) 
5 Robert Hagemier (1999) 82 Margaret L. Myers (2012) 
6 Mike Owens (1999) 83 Janice Hanselman (2012)
7 George Todd(1999)** 84 Robert Porter (2012)
8 William Inman (2000) 85 Marcus Youngblood (2012)**
9 Gary Eastlund (2000) 86 M. Lon Youngblood (2012)
10 John Stretch, Jr. (2000) 87 John A. Brazzell (2012)
11 Mark Shoemaker (2001) 88 Carl W. Morgan (2012)
12 Brian Vaughan (2001) 89 Randall L. Danielson (2012)
13 Darrell Holtzclaw (2001) 90 Timothy R. Taylor (2012)
14 Andy Clayton (2001) 91 Chuck Agugliaro (2013)
15 David Cook (2002) 92 Rex Cowart (2013)**
16 Levinson Restaurant Corp. (2002) 93 Dale Knouse (2013)
17 Jim Boultinghouse (2002) 94 Elden V. LaHayne (2013)**
18 John D. Yoder (2003) 95 David Lydick (2013)
19 Elden B. LaHayne (2003) 96 Justin Parker (2013)
20 Charles French (2003) 97 Tom Parker (2013)**
21 Tim Yoder (2003) 98 Renee Parker (2013)**
22 Larry Miller (2003) 99 Keith Webster (2013)
23 Richard Hickrod (2004) 100 Oscar Grundy (2013)
24 Jeff Gooch (2004) 101 Arnold Kluesner (2013)
25 Jerry Ziemer (2004) 102 Mary Anne LaHayne (2013)
26 Ernie Mills (2004) 103 William Meredith (2013)
27 Lynn Haverstock (2004) 104 Matthew Coon (2013)
28 Harvey McAdams (2004) 105 Debbie Porter (2014)
29 Marion County Funeral Directors Assn. (2004) 106 Evan Osborne (2014)
30 Rodney Nay (2004) 107 Paul Filter (2015)
31 Robin Yoder (2005) 108 Butler Coach (2015)
32 Curtis Rostad (2006) 109 Chandler Funeral Home (2015)
33 William Welsheimer Sr (2006) 110 Ronald King (2016)
34 Nicholas T. French (2006) 111 Swarens Funeral Home (2016)
35 Susan L. French (2006) 112 C. Gregory Childs (2016)
36 Rodney Qualkinbush (2006) 113 Lowell May (2016)
37 Robert Richman (2006) 114 Dr. Andrew Boersma (2016)
38 Jim Todd (2006) 115 Jon Maxwell Frain (2016)
39 Roger Nay (2007) 116 Richard Owen (2017)
40 David Hall (2007) 117 Colin Yoder (2017)
41 Indiana Funeral Supply Club (2007) 118 Smith Bizzell & Warner Funeral Home (2017)
42 Indiana Burial Vault Assn.(2007) 119 Becher & Kluesner Funeral Home (2017)
43 Charles Butler (2007) 120 Gehlbach & Royse Funeral Home (2017)
44 John Braboy (2008) 121 Roosevelt Allen & Pasty L. Allen (2017)
45 Steven "Pat" Myers (2008) 122 Shoemaker Funeral Home (2017)
46 Max Metzger (2008)** 123 Miles D. Wilson (2017)
47 Jo Ann Metzger (2008) 124 Lincoln Ridge Funeral Home (2017)
48 Joel Reinoehl (2008) 125 Moster Motuary (2017)
49 Ed Porter (2008)** 126 Steven D. Hentgen (2017)
50 James J. Meredith (2008) 127 Charlie Harris (2017)
51 Douglas Rostad (2008)** 128 Nichelle Neal Dalton (2018)(2019)
52 Jeff Stout (2008) 129 Doan & Mills Funeral Home (2018)
53 Michael St. Pierre (2008) 130 Indiana Donor Network (2018)
54 Dan Hurt (2009) 131 Lester Jenkins & Sons Funeral Home (2018)
55 Brad Billings (2009) 132 Kathleen Matuszak (2018)
56 Richard Weaver (2009) 133 State Auto Insurance (2018)(2019)
57 Jim Krause (2009) 134 Susan Jane Todd (2018)
58 Jim Meng (2009) 135 Kayla M. Nay  (2019)
59 Gerald Rees (2009)** 136 Cincinnati Equitable Life Insurance (2019)
60 Carl Yoder (2009) 137 John M. Storey (2019)
61 Rick Ferguson (2010) 138 Raymond E. White, Jr. (2019)
62 Robert Miller (2010) 139 Brian C. Waters (2019)
63 Paul St. Pierre (2010) 140 James Fletcher (2019)
64 Angela Sallee (2010) 141 Josh Webb (2019)
65 William E. Shirley (2010) 142 Lucinda J. Todd (2019)
66 Norm Knuth (2010)** 143 Mike Keller (2019)
67 P.L. Myers (2011)** 144 Robert Boetticher, Sr. (2019)
68 James R. Grayson (2011) 145 Jeffrey A. Stout (2019)
69 Robert B. Shelby (2011) 146 Werry Funeral Homes, Inc. (2019)
70 Larry Servies (2011) 147 G.L. Chandler (2019)
71 Wally Hooker (2011) 148 Jack E. Lechner, Jr. (2019)
72 Eddie Beagles (2011) 149 Matthews Aurora Funeral Solutions (2019)
73 Alan Earl (2011) 150 Maus Funeral Homes (2019)
74 Scott Stodghill (2011) 151 Richard E. Gerts (2019)
75 Norman Juday (2011) 152 St. Joseph Funeral Home (2019)
76 Ronald Reed (2011) 153 Ted L. Waters (2019)
77 Todd DeVerter (2011) 154 Ronald W. Randolph (2019)

HONORARY FELLOWS:

1. George Sansom (2000)**
2. Richard Nelson (2000)
3. Rosalie Lynch (2003)
4. John Alsobrooks (2007)**    

The purpose of the Foundation is:

  • To establish a library of books, videos, brochures and other funeral and grief related resources for use by the profession and the public. Our goal is to be the preeminent resource on death, dying, and bereavement in the State of Indiana.  
  • To become a repository of funeral service artifacts and memorabilia to document the history and practice of funeral service in Indiana.  
  • Support continuing education opportunities for members of the profession.  
  • To provide scholarships and other educational assistance to those entering the profession of funeral service. 
  • Educate the general public on the value of the funeral and the role of the funeral director in society.  
  • Make charitable contributions on behalf of funeral service.

Funding

Indiana Funeral Education Foundation, Inc. is funded by personal and corporate contributions. Larger donations to the endowment funds are also accepted. As a 501(c) 3 charitable foundation, all gifts are tax deductible.

Donor Levels

Emeritus Fellow over $10,000
Diamond Fellow $5000
Distinguished Fellow  $2500
Isaac Ball Fellow $1000
Principal Contributor $ 500
Patron Contributor $ 250
Foundation Contributor $ 100