The memorial service for Mary Lou Ristine will be held in the chapel of Second Presbyterian Church, 7700 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, at 11:00 AM on July 19, 2014. She died at Hooverwood on July 7th, after a brief illness.
Mrs. Ristine (“Lou” to her family and friends in Indiana and Michigan) was born in Wichita Falls, Texas on October 11, 1924, to Thomas Ernest and Mary Edna Muir Durrett. After graduating from public high school at age 17, she pursued her life-long interest in music, studying first at Hardin Junior College, then Southwestern University, and finally North Texas State. In December of 1944, Lou met Richard O. (“Dick”) Ristine. Within a few weeks, they were engaged. In September of 1946, after Dick was honorably discharged from the Army Air Corp, they were married and moved to Indianapolis where Dick began his legal career. Within a few years they moved to Crawfordsville, IN.
In Crawfordsville during the 50’s and 60’s, Lou and Dick raised three sons. Lou sang in the church choir at Wabash Ave. Presbyterian. She helped launch two programs for new volunteer groups serving the local hospital, as well as a Meals-On-Wheels program for homebound residents of Crawfordsville. She hosted a morning talk show on WCVL-AM. Lou grew to love Wabash College, opening her home innumerable times to host gatherings, large and small, of Crawfordsville and College friends, often in connection with College events. In 1990, in recognition of her decades of service, the all-male College made her an honorary alumnus, only the second woman in the history of Wabash so honored.
When their youngest son went off to college in 1970, Dick and Lou moved to Indianapolis, closer to his work. During their Indianapolis years, Governor Otis Bowen appointed Lou the co-chair of the Governor’s Residence Commission which selected the current site of the governor’s residence; for her service to the State, she was named a Sagamore of the Wabash. Lou helped establish the Downtown Beautification Commission which among other things “bricked” the Monument Circle and adjacent areas. As in Crawfordsville, she helped launch a Meals-On-Wheels program to serve Marion County. The Indianapolis Museum of Art, Second Presbyterian Church and other Indianapolis institutions benefited from her leadership on a variety of committees and projects during the 70’s and 80’s.
In 1982, after her husband stepped down as Executive Vice President of Lilly Endowment to serve full-time in the senior management of Wabash, Lou and Dick moved back to Crawfordsville, near the College. Following his retirement from Wabash, they moved permanently to Leland, Michigan, to the home they bought in 1975. Lou and Dick were fortunate to enjoy the next twelve years there, until Dick died June 20, 2009.
Mary Lou Ristine is survived by three sons, Richard O. Jr (Karen) and Thomas H. (Jill) of Indianapolis and James D. (Mardi Black) of Leelanau Township; four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Her sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren and their families want to thank the staff of Hooverwood for the excellent care “Mama Lou” received in recent months.
Memorial contributions may be made to Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, or the Leelanau Conservancy in Leland. Arrangements by Indiana Funeral Care and Crematory.
Rudy Cope says
I am grieved to hear of Lou’s passing. I spent several days with Dick and Lou recruiting for Wabash and they treated me like family folk. We had deep conversations and deep laughs – and a few martinis. And Dick took me to the Indian casinos up around that area. They are treasured memories. Wabash isn’t the same without Dick and Lou, but the College is so much the richer because of their legacy and caring ways. I shall be praying that the Lord will bring the family peace and comfort from above in the days to come.