My best friend Marie’s dad passed away on Friday, February 22, and I just got home from a week in Corpus Christi with Marie and her mom. He was truly amazing and will be greatly missed:

Norman Clinton Truesdell passed away Friday, February 22, 2008, at the age of 67 from kidney cancer. Born in Ft. Wayne, IN, on May 15, 1940, Norm grew up in Upper Sandusky, OH, where he graduated from high school in 1958. In 1963, he received his BS in Soil Chemistry from Ohio State University, where he was on the football team under Woody Hayes. Choosing to enter the ministry, Norm graduated from Wartburg Theological Seminary, in Dubuque, Iowa, with a Master’s in Theology in 1967.

Norm was preceded in death by his parents, Jim and Ella Truesdell. He is survived by his wife Marleen of Portland, Texas; his daughter Dr. Marie Truesdell of Indianapolis, Indiana; one brother Jim (Lisa) Truesdell of Sacramento, California; Aunt Crystal (Woody) Shadid of Springfield, Illinois; Aunt Jeri Truesdell of Live Oak, Texas; Anne (Joe) Zook of Thousand Oaks, California; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Norm and Marleen moved to Texas in 1967 where Norm served as a Lutheran minister at Trinity Lutheran Church in Stonewall, Texas until 1969. During that period he started one of the first Headstart programs in Texas and worked as an aide to President Lyndon Johnson within the Office of Equal Opportunity. Norm and Marleen adopted their daughter, Marie, in August, 1969, after which Norm left the ministry and became an entrepreneur, known for his success and knowledge in real estate. He was active in local politics serving on the Portland City Council and the Gregory Portland School Board. After converting to Catholicism over 25 years ago, Norm was an active member of the Corpus Christi Cathedral. He was an avid fisherman, spending the best summers of his life fishing on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada, with his friends and family. He enjoyed traveling, experiencing new places, people, and ideas. Norm loved people and had an extraordinarily generous heart, always willing to help anyone in need. Always standing up for what he believed in, during seminary he was arrested and held in a packed paddy wagon for marching with Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965 in Selma, Alabama. He was always known for helping out those less fortunate from working at the food bank, to providing opportunities for those on the streets. He held his family and friends in the highest regard and would have laid down his life for any of them. The example he set for others, especially his daughter, is never to be forgotten. We wish to thank everyone for their continual thoughts and prayers. We appreciate all the love that you have shown him and our family throughout his life and during these difficult times.

A Rosary will be held at the Corpus Christi Cathedral at 7:00 PM, Sunday, February 24th, followed by a Funeral Mass the following day at 10:00 AM. Pallbearers will be Larry Baker, Jr., Ralph Horton, JD Hofer, Calvin Patrick, Ned Perez, and Gordon Stanley. Honorary pallbearers will be Manuel DeLeon, Paul Dibble, Carl Fields, Hank Murphy, Calvin Lawson, and Ralph West. We graciously request that, instead of flowers, memorial donations be made to St. Anne’s Altar and Rosary Society (Corpus Christi Cathedral) and/or to the Norman C. Truesdell Endowed Scholarship for Service Learning in Business (Marian College, 3200 Cold Spring Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46222).