Ronald W. Gilbert

Ronald W. Gilbert, 104-1/2, retired Indianapolis newsman and longtime resident of Robin Run Village retirement community, died on January 22, 2017, at Prairie Lakes Health Campus. He had been a resident of Robin Run Village for twenty-five years, serving two terms on the Resident Council. From 1944 to 1967 he worked in the Indianapolis bureau of The Associated Press, where he wrote features and sports under the by-line "Ron Gilbert." He got his start in the newspaper business by founding and publishing a weekly, The Remington Review, in his home town, Remington, Ind. Before joining The AP he served as night editor of The Warsaw Daily Times, regional editor of The Fort Wayne Journal- Gazette, and telegraph editor of The Indianapolis Star. After retirement from the AP he became news service director at Tri-State College (now Trine University), Angola, Ind. He retired again in 1972. During the 1950s he was active in the American Newspaper Guild (AFL-CIO) and two of its locals, serving as president of the Indianapolis Newspaper Guild and becoming a charter member and an officer of the Wire Service Guild at its formation in 1958. A resident of Pike Township during the 195...[more]

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and 1960s, he served as president of the Pike High School Parent-Teacher-Student Association and of the Pike Chapter of the American Field Service, which sponsored a foreign student exchange program. He also chaired Boy Scout and Explorer Scout committees and was an active member of Bethel United Methodist Church. He was born in Remington June 24, 1912. He graduated from Remington High School in 1930. DePauw University awarded him a Rector scholarship, and he graduated from that school in 1934. He was recently honored as a lifetime member of the Washington C. DePauw Society. At DePauw he met Ruth Cureton, a student from Chicago, and they were married in Chicago in 1939. She accompanied him in his movements around Indiana. She had her own career in pre-school education and was instrumental in founding the Angola Community Nursery School. In 1975 he returned to Remington in retirement, and he and Ruth lived there until 1991, when they returned to Pike Township, becoming residents of Robin Run Village. Ruth died there in 2000. Ron continued to live there in his garden home, eventually moving to the tower, until the second day of 2017, when he went to the hospital and then health care. He was a member of the Lafayette chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society and Bethel church. He sang in church choirs for most of his life and regularly traveled to Harmony Society competitions and conventions. He especially enjoyed the Harmony Society cruises where he formed lifelong friendships. The sweet sound of four-part harmony from the RR4 quartet and others bought some consolation in difficult times during hospice . He was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2002, and though he was unable to attend classes regularly, at 102 he was the oldest Parkie to work the hand pads at Rock Steady Boxing. Surviving are three sons and their wives, David and Margaret Gilbert of Chelsea, MI, Steven and Donna Gilbert of Fishers, and Bruce and Beverly Gilbert of Overland Park, KS; grandchildren, great- grandchildren, and Special Lady Elberta Evans. A memorial service will be at Robin Run Village on Saturday, February 18th, with calling at 10AM and services at 11AM. In lieu of flowers, it is suggested that memorial contributions may be made to Indianapolis Bethel United Methodist Church, 5252 W. 52nd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46254 (www.bethelumc.info) or Rock Steady Boxing, 6847 Hillsdale Ct., Indianapolis, IN 46250 (www.rocksteadyboxing.org). Leppert Mortuary - Nora Chapel assisting with arrangements. To share a memory, please visit www.leppertmortuary.com.