OBITUARY

Name:   Gerald Joseph Minderman

From:  The Vincennes Sun-Commercial, Vincennes, Indiana
Date:  Friday, August 22, 1997

Minderman's Oct.12 1962, appointment by President John F. Kennedy as the local postmaster was only part of a long chain of community service positions which Minderman held.  He was elected Knox County treasurer in 1960, and in the same year was elected to succeed Manfred J. Core as chairman of the Knox County Democratic Central Committee when Core was elected chairman of the Indiana State Democratic Central Committee.  Minderman also that year co-chaired with George Gardner the ox roast during which Matthew E. Welsh announced his ultimately successful gubernatorial candidacy.

Minderman served on the Vincennes University Board of Trustees from 1966 to 1976.  His presidencies or chairmanships include the Vincennes YMCA, the Knox County Tuberculosis Association, the Jaycees who presented him with their Distinguished Service Award, the VU Alumni Association, Knox County United Fund, the Newman Society Board at VU, Te Deum International of Knox County, and local committee for the 1966 Indiana Sesquicentennial, plus local charitable campaigns such as for mental health and crippled children.

He was a member of the Old Cathedral, the Sierra Club of Vincennes, the Elks Lodge, the Knights of Columbus, the American Legion, the Wabash Valley Association, and had served on the boards of Kiwanis, the Knox County Cancer Unit and the Salvation Army.

He had also been vice president and director of the Vincennes Savings and Loan Association, one of the financial institutions which merged into what today is known as Alliance Bank.

He was also one of the organizers and managers of the Cub and Colt League youth baseball programs in Vincennes.

Minderman, of 1515 E. St. Clair St. was born July 10, 1921, in the St. Thomas area of Knox County.  He was the son of Walter L. and Marcelline (Bouchie) Minderman.

A Navy veteran of World War II, he was a combat veteran, serving more than three years with amphibious forces in the Mediterranean and Pacific theaters of operations.

Minderman graduated from St. Francis Xavier Elementary School, he was a member of Lincoln High School class of 1939, the earned an associate's degree in 1947 from Vincennes University.

Survivors include his wife, Mildred "Midge" (Mansell) Minderman, whom he married Feb. 8, 1942; three sons, Patrick and William Minderman, both of Memphis, Tenn., and Matthew Minderman of Vincennes; two daughters, Ann Matthews of Vincennes and Mindy Minderman of Janesville, Wis.; two brothers, Walter P. Minderman and Doyle Minderman of Vincennes; 13 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

A Mass of Christian burial will be at 11:30 a.m. Monday at the Old Cathedral, concelebrated by the Rev. John Schipp, the Rev. Pat Foster, the Rev. Robert Bultmann, and the Rev Robert Nemergut.  Burial will be in Mount Calvary Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the Gardner Funeral Home.