Jan A. Guffin
May 11, 1938 ~ January 12, 2026
Born in: Rush County, Indiana
Resided in: Indianapolis, Indiana
Resided in: Indianapolis, Indiana
Dr. Jan A. Guffin
Longtime educator, Dr. Jan A. Guffin, 87, of Indianapolis, passed away on January 12, 2026 at The Commons on Meridian. Jan was born on May 11, 1938 in Rush County, Indiana to the late James L. Guffin and Helen (Whitinger) Guffin.
Jan lived in Illinois and Ohio briefly during his childhood but settled in Indianapolis during his teenage years. He was valedictorian of his graduating class at George Washington High School. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana University, and his Ph.D. from Duke University. He taught at North Central High School for thirty years and Park Tudor School for twenty years, retiring in 2015 after fifty years of teaching. He was one of the founders of the Spoleto Study Abroad, a program for high school students in the arts, and had taught in that program since its beginning over twenty years ago. He also started the Global Scholars Program at Park Tudor and the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at North Central to encourage interdisciplinary learning, cultural understanding, and a global perspective with future-ready skills. Additionally, he served on many advisory boards over the years, including the Tindley Academy.
His passion for learning about the world, its people and appreciating God’s beauty around him, lead him to find great joy in his hobbies of gardening, travel and photography. Known for his beautiful flower gardens, you could often find him down on his knees and getting his hands dirty, tending to his flowers, often finding just the right bouquet to cut from his garden to share with a family, friend or neighbor. Always with a camera in hand, you could find him taking pictures of flowers, people, ducks and other subjects in and around Broad Ripple and beyond. His photographic work was featured at Park Tudor School and Second Presbyterian Church in his first exhibit, “My World, Our World, The World”. His love of travel was only second to the love of his home and his animals. He yearned for the trips to Spoleto, Italy so he could explore the beauty of the Italian people, Italian food and wine and the breathtaking scenery. However, he loved coming home to his “pals” and treating them to a pup cup or a piece of his hamburger at Hardees on College, or the Broad Ripple McDonald’s.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his siblings, Charlene Heffner, Penny Krodel and Mike Guffin, sister-in-law Carolyn Joan Guffin, as well as his beloved “pals” Patches, Scruffy, Bravo, Banjo and Sparkplug.
He is survived by his nieces, nephews, cousins, and the countless students and colleagues that he loved staying in touch with.
Family and friends will gather in celebration of Jan’s life on Tuesday, January 20th from 3:00pm-7:00pm at Carlisle Branson Funeral Service & Crematory, Mooresville. Additional visitation will take place on Wednesday, January 21st from 10:00am until the services at 11:00am at the funeral home. Burial will follow the services in Crown Hill Cemetery.
In keeping with Jan’s passion for education and animals, memorial contributions are encouraged to be made in his memory to the Dr. Jan A. Guffin Memorial Scholarship, c/o Washington Township Schools Foundation, or to Park Tudor School in his memory or to the Indianapolis Humane Society, by dropping off new or clean, gently used supplies from their wish list to: 7929 N. Michigan Road, Indianapolis, IN 46268, https://indyhumane.org/about/ways-to-give/donate-supplies/.
Please visit www.CarlisleBranson.com to share a favorite memory or to sign the online guest registry.
Services
Visitation:
Tuesday, January 20, 2026
3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Carlisle - Branson Funeral Service & Crematory
39 East High Street
Mooresville, IN 46158
Add to My Calendar
America/Chicago
2026-01-20 15:00:00
2026-01-20 07:00:00
JanA.GuffinVisitation
Visitation
39 East High Street,Mooresville, IN 46158
Visitation:
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
10:00 am - 11:00 am
Carlisle - Branson Funeral Service & Crematory
39 East High Street
Mooresville, IN 46158
Add to My Calendar
America/Chicago
2026-01-21 10:00:00
2026-01-21 11:00:00
JanA.GuffinVisitation
Visitation
39 East High Street,Mooresville, IN 46158
Funeral Service:
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
11:00 am
Carlisle - Branson Funeral Service & Crematory
39 East High Street
Mooresville, IN 46158
Add to My Calendar
America/Chicago
2026-01-21 11:00:00
2026-01-21 11:00:00
JanA.GuffinFuneral Service
Funeral Service
39 East High Street,Mooresville, IN 46158
Add to My Calendar
America/Chicago
2026-01-21 12:30:00
2026-01-21 12:30:00
JanA.GuffinBurial
Burial
700 W 38th St,Indianapolis, IN 46208
View current weather.
Tribute Video
Memories Timeline
Guestbook
Sign the Guestbook, Light a Candle
My condolences to Dr. Guffin’s family. How blessed we were to have had him. He could pull the very best from you. I will always keep him in my heart.
What a great teacher, leader, role model, and human being. He left such a positive influence on so many! I have many warm memories of Jan, including attending one of the single best professional development seminars I ever saw that he led while I worked at NCHS with him. I’m living in Europe now, and happy to learn it was a favorite place of his as well.
Jan’s generosity extended far beyond the classroom. He gave freely of his time and his heart to his students, his friends, his family, and those he encountered along the way. He mentored someone he befriended at his favorite restaurant, walking alongside them as they worked toward becoming a naturalized citizen. Jan had a rare ability to see the good in people, to recognize their worth and their potential, often before they could see it themselves.
As a friend and colleague fortunate enough to teach alongside him in the Spoleto Study Abroad program, we were continually amazed by the community he built there. Despite speaking no Italian, Jan somehow had more friends in town than all of us combined. Shopkeepers proudly displayed the portraits he had made of them, along with the calendars he published each year, small but enduring gifts of connection and care. Even now, his photographs and calendars continue to grace the walls of countless shops, quiet reminders of a man whose presence, kindness, and artistry left an indelible mark. ❤️
Dr. Guffin (for I could never call you Jan),
At the thought of you and your legacy I have no words. Really, that’s not true…I have too many and they are swirling around in a cacophony of joy for all the memories and lessons and sorrow that you are now no longer here.
I know these last few years were not easy ones. For one of the most brilliant minds I will ever know to be betrayed by your brain was hard to watch. I distinguish between your mind and your brain, because what the literal organ began to lack could never diminish or rob you of who you were at your core. Selfless. Curious. Generous. Gentle. Intelligent. Nurturing. All things good.
It’s nearly impossible to quantify how much of me is a testament to what I learned from you as a teacher or gained from you as a friend. Whether it be bucking up the courage to tell you my Global Scholars paper was not where I wanted it to be/where it should have been when first drafts were due or stepping off the bus in Spoleto to your open arms and the exclamation “she’s here!” I was always safe with you. Safe to ask questions, safe to try, safe to succeed, and (most importantly) safe to fail. To make one feel safe while constantly challenging them, that was a super power my friend.
Upon completion of the Global Scholars Program and imminent graduation from Park Tudor you gave each Global Scholar a letter. The letter was entitled “Fare and Well.” The letter encouraged us to 1) go forth from the program with the skills you hoped we had gained to be a curious and compassionate “global citizen” and to 2) stay in touch, never out of obligation or with apology for length of time in between…but with an open heart to cherish whatever time we had together. I strive daily to do the first and, as for the second, am grateful that in the intervening years my family and I got to share many more moments with you.
Although you are no longer physically here we will continue to share those moments.
When I question the world around me…
When I take a picture just because something caught my eye…
When I travel the world with my passport holder (gifted with the letter)…
When I approach a challenge head on…
When I look at a flower in full bloom…
You will be there and I will share that moment with you.
You closed that letter explaining you would not say “goodbye” or “farewell” as they were too final, but rather you preferred to “separate farewell into ‘fare,’ meaning ‘go,’ and ‘well,’ meaning with a healthy mind and heart.”
Bearing that in mind and with more thanks than could ever be appropriately conveyed…
Fare Well, Dr. Guffin.
Emily Bohn
Park Tudor/Global Scholars ‘12
Spoleto Study Abroad ‘11
Chris and Claire Heffner