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)

ANDRES, Louis William, 93, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, New Albany, March 15. Father of Dennis Andres.

BACKHERMS, Shirley A., 68, St. Joseph, Corydon, March 3. Daughter of Ada Mae (Crone) Backherms. Sister of Laurel, Dennis, Lonnie and Melvin Backherms.

BEST, Alois William, 93, St. Mary-of-the-Knobs, Floyds Knobs, March 22. Father of Mary Ann Duffy and David Best. Grandfather of 13. Great-grandfather of 28. Great-great-grandfather of eight.

BLEDSOE, Marcella S., 90, Holy Name of Jesus, Beech Grove, March 22. Sister of Agnes Litzelman.

FORESTAL, Jerry, 76, St. Therese of the Infant Jesus (Little Flower), Indianapolis, March 15. Husband of Lillian Forestal. Father of Marianne Greve, Julie Lynch, Kerry and Michael Forestal. Brother of JoAnne Kramiak and Jane Zahn. Grandfather of 10. Great-grandfather of one.

FRY, Linda N., 67, St. Mary, Rushville, March 21. Mother of Kathleen Back, Julie Gordon, Kristine Kuhn, Elizabeth Miller and Marcia Primus. Sister of Rose Ann Clifford and Barbara Hoeing. Grandmother of seven. Great-grandmother of two.

GARDNER, Deanna K., 44, St. Augustine, Jeffersonville, March 18. Wife of Greg Gardner. Daughter of Evelyn Cassidy.

GILSON, Eleanor A., 73, Christ the King, Indianapolis, March 25. Mother of Robert L. Gilson.

KELLER, Rebecca Lee, 55, Holy Name of Jesus, Beech Grove, March 21. Sister of Karen Alley, Kathryn Barnett, Patricia Fredwell and Kevin Keller. Step-daughter of Phyllis Keller.

LIMJOCO, Cesar A., 86, St. Mary, Greensburg, March 12. Husband of Fe Limjoco. Father of Anna Alunday, Cesar and Roland Limjoco. Brother of Milagros Aquino, Eve Mercado, Aurora Pastor, Amparo Velarde and Ramon Limjoco. Grandfather of six. Great-grandfather of two.

LORENT, Geraldine, 92, St. Joseph, Shelbyville, March 7. Mother of Carol Hiatt Anspaugh. Sister of Delores Allen, Lorraine Goodrich, Dorothy Perry and Louis Rydant. Grandmother of seven. Great-grandmother of 21.

LUCKETT, Warren L., 83, St. Pius X, Indianapolis, March 18. Uncle of several.

McATEE, James E., 80, St. Simon the Apostle, Indianapolis, March 9. Husband of Wilma McAtee. Father of Mary Jean Denk, Pamela Hoskins, Janice Scully, Dennis and Michael McAtee. Brother of Barbara Akles, Rosie Hunter, Janie Siccardi, Margy South and Joseph McAtee. Grandfather of 10.

McCASLIN, Virginia C., 83, Christ the King, Indianapolis, March 6. Sister of Dr. Georgia Bowman and James Benefiel.

McKAY, Mary Virginia, 85, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, New Albany, March 10. Mother of Michael and Patrick McKay.

MOSS, Steven L., 61, St. Joseph, Shelbyville, March 8. Husband of Bonnie Jo (Hirschauer) Moss. Father of Jason and Justin Moss. Son of Clifford Moss. Brother of Sharrell Adkins, Alan, Bryan, Clifford and William Moss. Grandfather of two.

O’CALLAGHAN, Kevin, 58, Holy Spirit, Indianapolis, March 3. Father of Marcy DeMint and David O’Callaghan. Son of Emma Bokelman. Brother of Mary Ann Hinder, Dennis and Terry O’Callaghan.

O’TAIN, Claire E., 84, Our Lady of the Greenwood, Greenwood, Jan. 29. Mother of Martha Mosemiller, Marilyn, John and Robert O’Tain. Grandmother of five. Great-grandmother of three.

PFISTER, Paul James, 87, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Terre Haute, March 8. Husband of Betty Pfister. Father of Margaret Ellis, Karen Klemencic, Cathy Lewin, Deborah Lyons, Therese McLaughlin, Marcia Snyder, Mary Caye, Donald and Paul Pfister Jr. Brother of Anne Cronin, Rita Hart, Mary Scripps, Robert and William Pfister.

PFLUM, Charles M., 86, St. Michael, Brookville, March 24. Father of Deborah Beasley, Sherry Sauerland, Marty, Rick and Steve Pflum. Grandfather of 17. Great-grandfather of 28. Step-great-grandfather of four.

PRICE, Josephine M., 91, Our Lady of Lourdes, Indianapolis, March 2. Sister of Frank Ujejski.

PRIDE, David Jeffrey, 43, Our Lady of the Greenwood, Greenwood, Feb. 10. Husband of Laura (Figler) Pride. Father of Elizabeth, Daniel and Nicholas Pride.

RAGER, Frances Lucille, 83, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Jeffersonville, March 3. Wife of Fred Rager. Mother of Shellie Fielden, Laura McKinstry and Kirtley Cooke. Sister of Yolanda Fanton. Grandmother of nine. Great-grandmother of eight.

RANGEL, David J., 44, Holy Cross, Indianapolis, March 6. Husband of Joan Rangel. Father of William Heritage, Brittainy Shaw, Lauren and Matthew Wyatt, Gabriel and Jacob Rangel. Brother of Angela, Joe and Paul Rangel.

ROBERTS, Monica, 86, St. Therese of the Infant Jesus (Little Flower), Indianapolis, March 3. Mother of Monica Folske, Teresa Nelson, Catherine Smith and James Roberts. Grandmother of six. Great-grandmother of five.

SCHREINER, James Lewis, 73, St. Michael, Brookville, March 11. Husband of Julia Ann (Biltz) Schreiner. Father of Joni Buechler, Jill Coppersmith and Jackie Hausfeld. Brother of Betty Gramman and Franciscan Sister Mary Virginia Schreiner. Grandfather of eight.

SGUOROS, Thelma (Balmer), 84, St. Joseph, Corydon, Feb. 25. Sister of Ruth Fetz, Margie Johnson and Dorothy Kiley. Grandmother of one.

SNYDER, Charles Leo, 84, St. Joseph, Indianapolis, March 14. Husband of Joan (Anson) Snyder. Father of Cathy Douglass, Charles, Mark and Randy Snyder. Brother of Bobbie Wolfe and Joe Snyder. Grandfather of 11. Great-grandfather of eight.

SODEMAN, Frances H., 88, St. Therese of the Infant Jesus (Little Flower), Indianapolis, Feb. 22. Mother of Gerry Burgin, Frances Lester and Kathleen Sodeman. Sister of Therese Long, Francis and James Tucher. Grandmother of five. Great-grandmother of five.

SPRINGMAN, Norbert G., 91, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Indianapolis, March 7. Brother of Ann Gibson, Agnes Schafer, Leroy and Paul Springman.

THOMPSON, Virginia, 82, St. Jude, Indianapolis, March 14. Mother of Joanna McGovern, Judy Robinson, Diane Yeager, Mary, Bob, Don, Ron and Tom Thompson. Sister of Marsha Miller. Grandmother of 15. Great-grandmother of 17.

TORZEWSKI, Elizabeth N., 88, Holy Spirit, Indianapolis, March 11. Mother of Catherine, Susan, Daniel, James, John and Joseph Torzewski. Grandmother of 16. Great-grandmother of seven.

TRABEL, Sylvester, 81, St. Joseph, St. Leon, Feb. 20. Father of Denise Eckstein, Pam Torre, Don and Tim Trabel. Grandfather of five.

WALTMAN, Donna Elizabeth (Bohannon), 62, St. Agnes, Nashville, March 10. Mother of Gina Coughenour, Bryan, Kevin and Rick Waltman. Sister of Jerry Twohig. Grandmother of eight. Great-grandmother of four.

WEHRLING, Horace Eugene, 59, SS. Francis and Clare, Greenwood, March 12. Husband of Nancy (Coulter) Wehrling. Father of Genanne Young and Jeffry Wehrling. Brother of James and William Wehrling. Grandfather of three.

WEST, Cody Hartwell, 13, Our Lady of the Greenwood, Greenwood, March 3. Son of Ronald and Gina West. Brother of Suzanne, Anthony, Jason and Ronald West Jr. Grandson of Trieste Maio and Mary Morgan.

WHITE, Margarete, 74, St. Lawrence, Indianapolis, March 10. Mother of Teresa White-Williams. Sister of Gert Mertman. Grandmother of four.

Daughter of Charity Gertrude Bastnagel was an administrator

Daughter of Charity Gertrude Bastnagel, a former administrator of St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, died at Seton Residence in Evansville, Ind., on Feb. 22. She was 83.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Feb. 26 at Seton Chapel at the Seton Residence in Evansville. Burial followed at St. Joseph Cemetery in Evansville.

The former Margaret Rose Bastnagel was born on Feb. 7, 1925, in Mount Carmel, Ill. She graduated from Mount Carmel High School in 1943 and earned her registered nursing certification at St. Mary’s School of Nursing in 1946.

Two years later, she entered the Daughters of Charity in St. Louis.

Sister Gertrude earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing education at De Paul University in Chicago in 1950.

She began her ministry at Seton Hospital in Austin, Texas, as a surgical supervisor and served there from 1950-61.

Her next assignment was as a supervisor at Hotel Dieu Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, where she served for four years before returning to Seton Hospital in Austin to direct the nursing service.

From 1966-68, Sister Gertrude studied at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

She completed her residency in health care administration at Carney Hospital in Boston then worked as an assistant administrator at Waltham Hospital in Boston.

From 1969-75, Sister Gertrude served as administrator and local superior at Providence Hospital in Southfield, Mich.

Sister Gertrude served as administrator of St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis from 1975-77 then received a fellowship to study at the American College of Hospital Administrators.

In 1978, she was appointed councilor-at-large of the East Central Provincial Council for the Daughters of Charity.

During this time, Sister Gertrude also served as the administrator of St. Mary’s Hospital in Evansville.

In 1981, she was appointed the second Visitatrix of the East Central Province.

After completing a nine-year term as provincial superior, Sister Gertrude served as a docent at the Seton Shrine in Emmitsburg, Md.

A year later, she returned to the East Central Province and served for five years in full-time governance at St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago as well as on the board of trustees of St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tenn.

In 1996, Sister Gertrude returned to Evansville to serve as local superior at Seton Residence for six years.

At the time of her death, she resided at the Seton Residence and served in the ministry of prayer.

Surviving are a brother, Dr. William Bastnagel of Indianapolis, and a sister, Mary Diebler of Mount Carmel, Ill., as well as many nieces and nephews.

Memorial gifts may be sent to the Daughters of Charity Foundation, 9400 New Harmony Road, Evansville, IN 47720. †