The Indiana Funeral Education Foundation 

Death is a universal human experience and yet it remains the ultimate mystery. 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 ensure 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) 80 Brad L. Myers (2011)
2 J. Michael Blackwell (1999) 81 Sean Wonder (in memory of Elbert Shaw) (2012) 
3 Ron Deremiah (1999) 82 Margaret L. Myers (2012) 
4 Millard Rullman (1999)** 83 Janice Hanselman (2012)
5 Robert Hagemier (1999) 84 Robert Porter (2012)
6 Mike Owens (1999) 85 Marcus Youngblood (2012)**
7 George Todd(1999)** 86 M. Lon Youngblood (2012)
8 William Inman (2000) 87 John A. Brazzell (2012)
9 Gary Eastlund (2000) 88 Carl W. Morgan (2012)
10 John Stretch, Jr. (2000) 89 Randall L. Danielson (2012)
11 Mark Shoemaker (2001) 90 Timothy R. Taylor (2012)
12 Brian Vaughan (2001) 91 Chuck Agugliaro (2013)
13 Darrell Holtzclaw (2001) 92 Rex Cowart (2013)**
14 Andy Clayton (2001) 93 Dale Knouse (2013)
15 David Cook (2002) 94 Elden V. LaHayne (2013)**
16 Levinson Restaurant Corp. (2002) 95 David Lydick (2013)
17 Jim Boultinghouse (2002) 96 Justin Parker (2013)
18 John D. Yoder (2003) 97 Tom Parker (2013)**
19 Elden B. LaHayne (2003) 98 Renee Parker (2013)**
20 Charles French (2003) 99 Keith Webster (2013)
21 Tim Yoder (2003) 100 Oscar Grundy (2013)
22 Larry Miller (2003) 101 Arnold Kluesner (2013)
23 Richard Hickrod (2004) 102 Mary Anne LaHayne (2013)
24 Jeff Gooch (2004) 103 William Meredith (2013)
25 Jerry Ziemer (2004) 104 Matthew Coon (2013)
26 Ernie Mills (2004) 105 Debbie Porter (2014)
27 Lynn Haverstock (2004) 106 Evan Osborne (2014)
28 Harvey McAdams (2004) 107 Paul Filter (2015)
29 Marion County Funeral Directors Assn. (2004) 108 Butler Coach (2015)
30 Rodney Nay (2004) 109 Chandler Funeral Home (2015)
31 Robin Yoder (2005) 110 Ronald King (2016)
32 Curtis Rostad (2006) 111 Swarens Funeral Home (2016)
33 William Welsheimer Sr (2006) 112 C. Gregory Childs (2016)
34 Nicholas T. French (2006) 113 Lowell May (2016)
35 Susan L. French (2006) 114 Dr. Andrew Boersma (2016)
36 Rodney Qualkinbush (2006) 115 Jon Maxwell Frain (2016)
37 Robert Richman (2006) 116 Richard Owen (2017)
38 Jim Todd (2006) 117 Colin Yoder (2017)
39 Roger Nay (2007) 118 Mary Margaret Todd (2017)
40 David Hall (2007) 119 Dannon Todd (2017)
41 Indiana Funeral Supply Club (2007) 120 Smith Bizzell & Warner Funeral Home (2017)
42 Indiana Burial Vault Assn.(2007) 121 Becher & Kluesner Funeral Home (2017)
43 Charles Butler (2007) 122 Gehlbach & Royse Funeral Home (2017)
44 John Braboy (2008) 123 Roosevelt Allen & Pasty L. Allen (2017)
45 Steven "Pat" Myers (2008) 124 Shoemaker Funeral Home (2017)
46 Max Metzger (2008)** 125 Miles D. Wilson (2017)
47 Jo Ann Metzger (2008) 126 Lincoln Ridge Funeral Home (2017)
48 Joel Reinoehl (2008) 127 Moster Motuary (2017)
49 Ed Porter (2008)** 128 Steven D. Hentgen (2017)
50 James J. Meredith (2008) 129 Charlie Harris (2017)
51 Douglas Rostad (2008)** 130 Nichelle Neal Dalton (2018)(2019)
52 Jeff Stout (2008) 131 Doan & Mills Funeral Home (2018)
53 Michael St. Pierre (2008) 132 Indiana Donor Network (2018)
54 Dan Hurt (2009) 133 Lester Jenkins & Sons Funeral Home (2018)
55 Brad Billings (2009) 134 Kathleen Matuszak (2018)
56 Richard Weaver (2009) 135 State Auto Insurance (2018)(2019)
57 Jim Krause (2009) 136 Susan Jane Todd (2018)
58 Jim Meng (2009) 137 Kayla M. Nay  (2019)
59 Gerald Rees (2009)** 138 Cincinnati Equitable Life Insurance (2019)
60 Carl Yoder (2009) 139 John M. Storey (2019)
61 Rick Ferguson (2010) 140 Raymond E. White, Jr. (2019)
62 Robert Miller (2010) 141 Brian C. Waters (2019)
63 Paul St. Pierre (2010) 142 James Fletcher (2019)
64 Angela Sallee (2010) 143 Josh Webb (2019)
65 William E. Shirley (2010) 144 Lucinda J. Todd (2019)
66 Norm Knuth (2010)** 145 Mike Keller (2019)
67 P.L. Myers (2011)** 146 Robert Boetticher, Sr. (2019)
68 James R. Grayson (2011) 147 Jeffrey A. Stout (2019)
69 Robert B. Shelby (2011) 148 Werry Funeral Homes, Inc. (2019)
70 Larry Servies (2011) 149 G.L. Chandler (2019)
71 Wally Hooker (2011) 150 Jack E. Lechner, Jr. (2019)
72 Eddie Beagles (2011) 151 Matthews Aurora Funeral Solutions (2019)
73 Alan Earl (2011) 152 Maus Funeral Homes (2019)
74 Scott Stodghill (2011) 153 Richard E. Gerts (2019)
75 Norman Juday (2011) 154 St. Joseph Funeral Home (2019)
76 Ronald Reed (2011) 155 Ted L. Waters (2019)
77 Todd DeVerter (2011) 156 Ronald W. Randolph (2019)
78 Jack Spurgeon (2011) 157 Lori J. Sheeler (2019)
79 William Bieker (2011) 158 Paulane Buter (2020)


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