Joseph Anthony Baumgartner
September 20, 1946 ~ May 16, 2018
Joseph Anthony Baumgartner passed away peacefully on May 16 at the age of 71.
Survivors include his sister, Patricia (Baumgartner) Briggs of Camby, Indiana and his sister Marianne Baumgartner of Newburgh, Indiana; and daughters, Kristen (Mike)Poindexter of Indianapolis, Indiana, Heidi (Eric) Mayo of Indianapolis, Indiana; and his son, Andy (Jenn) Baumgartner of Indianapolis Indiana; five grandchildren, Eli Baumgartner, Jacob Poindexter, Rowan Stanley, Elliott Stanley, and Selah Baumgartner. He is preceded in death by his Mother, Maxine Baumgartner, and his father, Richard Baumgartner; his grandson, Jeremiah Thomas Ragon and his granddaughter, Madeline Delaney Ragon.
Joseph was born on September 20, 1946, in Evansville, Indiana. He graduated from Sacred Heart Central High School with the class of 1964. He studied at IUPUI in Indianapolis and earned a Bachelor's degree in Accounting. He was a dedicated banker for many years.
His family and friends remember him best for his witty sense of humor, his positive personality, his passion for collecting stamps and mechanical banks, and his love of music. He had a bottomless supply of love for everyone he met. His doors were always open...he was a great friend to all. Joseph loved his family and spending time with his grandchildren.
Joseph's devotion to the holiday of Christmas led him to collect over 2,000 Christmas ornaments and various Christmas Villages that he displayed every year for his children's and grandchildren's delight.
A private service will be held at a later date. In celebration of Joseph's life, give a hug to the person to your left.
Final care and cremation arrangements were entrusted to Carlisle-Branson Funeral Service & Crematory, Mooresville. Please visit www.CarlisleBranson.com to leave a personal message for the family.
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So very recently, I asked you to write down your memories of things I didn’t know. I don’t know yet if you did, but you called to tell me a story of your own dad. It was shocking because you weren’t fond of him, yet it was one of your first ever memories. And so…one of my first memories is of you coming home from work. Our excitement built, and suddenly you were there. Walking in that sliding glass door, we giggled in glee and tackled you. You would walk low, swinging your arms and we would shriek and run. You would put up your thumbs and we would grab on and jump and jump. You would tell us the gully bug was after us, which was really just two fingers you would hold up and use to tickle us.
So many other stories of the nutty side of you, but these are just my first memories of you. Thank you for helping to give me life, Dad. I love you so much. And I know you loved me.
A wonderful memory of a father who loved his kiddos <3
May you rest in peace good friend Joe. We shared high school together….shared time at your home in Camby … were young then and had a great future ahead of us. I knew you loved banking and numbers! When I came home from Seminary at Catholic Univ. Wash DC, you were very gracious and offered me a position at Ind National Bank. I struggle to reconcile my checking account!…not a mathematical mind like you! Rest in peace Joe. You were an important part of my life in high school…and I could have been your ‘brother-in-law’ as my appreciation of your sister Patricia was strong. We all shared many good times together and I thank you.
And we will enjoy time again in Heaven! God bless you Joe and your family!
Norb Schott
Roachdale, IN
This is such a great way to remember my dad! Thank you for sharing, Mr. Schott!
Dear Joe, I want to thank you for your generosity. As a young Art teacher, I was so impressed by your gift for photography when your sweet sister and my best friend Patty Ann shared with me some underwater images that you took on a vacation. I had never seen such lovely seascapes! You kindly offered to loan them to me to share with my students and I couldn’t believe you would do that! With your permission, I made a slide show on a PowerPoint-type program and returned the slides back to you. Year after year, my 3rd graders created the most beautiful circular watercolor-crayon-resist paintings, inspired by the generous photographer who shared his creative work for their imaginative paintings.. Your creativity and generosity truly touched the lives of many! Thank You!
-Mary Etienne, Indianapolis
It will make you happy to know that my dad always encouraged my creativity, no matter what it entailed. As we organized his belongings into piles of things to part with and things to keep, we wound up with a large pile of items we neither needed nor could we simply send them to the dumpster. We donated these items yesterday to an art teacher (also in Indianapolis). It felt right. If he had to part with his things, it would have made him happiest knowing they went to the arts and encouraging someone else along that path. Thank you for sharing about my dad. It means so much to me!
Dear wonderful brother! I’ve been going through many of your possessions and finding your beautiful spirit in everything I touch. I’ve been laughing and crying for days and want to pick up the phone and call you. I want to tell you how thankful I am for having the chance to know you! You were always so generous with sharing your knowledge and so comforting when I needed a shoulder to cry on. I will treasure your memory forever and think sweet thoughts of you every time I go to Grey’s Restaurant in Mooresville and eat chocolate pie! We had some fun times. You were the best brother in the world (and you had some really great friends, too! Thank you Norb for sharing your thoughts! I’m in the book!)
And thank you Mary Sue for your lovely memory of Joe…it brought tears to my eyes!
Because of your passing, I have rediscovered that I have the most beautiful family in the world! Thank you Heidi, Kristen and Andy and your spouses for the love and laughter you have shared in this past month. I am blessed to have you as family! Joe, you did good!
Sweet dreams, Joe! I will continue to talk to you until we meet again!
With love, your sister, Patty (Baumgartner) Briggs.
I love you, Aunt Pasty! Dad sure got a kick out of you!
Dear Joe I loved going to gilley’s antique mall with you. You had a amazing eye for quality. You loved to collect banks, stamps, and (your favorite) Christmas decorations. I will miss getting to talk with you about what ever might be going on. I never got to hear the end of that saying you started to tell me, ” life is like a diaper…” , Maybe this is how it ends. “Life is like a diaper, maybe clean, maybe dirty so pay attention because no likes a dirty diaper”. Love you Joe, your friend Brice L Pencek.
Oh Brice, he sure lived your company! I love your ending to his diaper comment! It could really just go so many ways…
Joe’s celebration of life services will be held at Nora Christian Church 465 E 86th St, Indianapolis, IN 46240 on Monday, June 18th, 2018 from 5pm-7pm. It’s dinner time in Indiana but we invite you to come to offer support to his friends and family anyway. Visitation first, celebration service to follow.
I know this says the 16th, but we all know it was really the 8th. Did you know you died the same day that your dad died? I had a dream about you last night. It was the first time I’ve had a dream about you or felt you in any way since you died. I don’t know what that means. I saw you and you were walking out the door. Your hair was less gray and more black and longer in the back. You had your glasses on that maybe put you in your 40s or 50s. You were happy but I don’t think you spoke. White button down shirt. I tried to stop you from leaving. I wanted you to know I love you. But no sound came out. I tried and tried to scream. I know it was just air being pushed through my lungs but I kept trying, dad. Because I do. Today, these pictures popped up in my news feed that I know I showed you. I remember you asking, “You took these?!” I don’t know if that means I saw you a year ago today for the last time. I can’t make my brain remember such details. I feel like I’m still screaming and you’re still not here. I’m positive in my mama mind that Parker would have been born today. I stopped praying to God and started praying to you after I found out how hard things were going to be. You can hold him now, dad. Take care of him until I get there. I love you. I just love you.
Hi Patty, sorry to see that Joey has passed away. I actually was looking for you and found his obituary. I am working on the family’s genealogy like your mother did. This isn’t the place to ask questions so I would really like to hear from you. Please message me at ruthann314@gmail.com I would appreciate it if you did. And again I am sorry to see that Joey has died!!! Take Care! Ruth Ann Goodman Morris