- Date Of Birth: January 17, 1940
- Date Of Death: December 29, 2019
- State: Indiana
Albert Randolph Ihnat, 79, of Anderson, passed away after an extended illness on December 29, 2019. He was born on January 17, 1940 in Gary, Indiana and resided most of his life in Anderson. Al graduated from Gary Emerson High School in 1958. While in high school, he set a record in 1957 for the mile run (4:36) and tied a record in cross country that was set by Dr. Ed Burns in 1940.
He served his country in the U.S. Navy Seabees and obtained the rank of Builders 2nd Class (E-5). Al attended Class A builders school and graduated 2nd in his class. He served in Okinawa, Guam, and also on the Brig Force and Shore Patrol at Fort Hueneme in California. Al was honorably discharged from the Navy in July of 1964.
He graduated from Ball State University with a bachelor’s and master’s degree. He began his teaching career in 1967 at Southside Middle School where he coached football, cross country, track, and wrestling. He then taught at Anderson High School and coached women’s volleyball and softball, and boy’s track. He began his head wrestling coach career at Anderson.
Al coached wrestling for 45 years in this community and was inducted in the Indiana Wrestling Coach Hall of Fame in 2014. He refereed wrestling for many years, and drove a school bus with ACS for many extracurricular activities. Al bowled in the Teacher’s League for many years, was a member of the Retired Teachers of Madison County, member and treasurer of the Navy Seabees Veteran of America (X-4; New Castle, IN), and was a member of Christ Lutheran Church where he served on the education committee and sung in the choir.
Al is survived by his loving wife, Tamra (Ewald) Ihnat; daughter, Lisa C. Banister of Anderson; grandchildren, Ty (Shelby) Banister, Haylei Banister, Austin Randolph Banister, Taylor (Tanner Smith Banister; and great-granddaughter, Alice Patricia Banister. Also surviving are his step-sons, Robert (Kathryn) Knuckles and Christopher (Amie) Knuckles, step-grandchildren, Ryan (Meghan) Knuckles, Rachel Knuckles, Megan Knuckles, Zander Knuckles, and Zack Knuckles, and Al’s siblings, Milo Ihnat and Jeri Gonzalez.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Albert Michael and Irene (Benko) Ihnat, and first wife, Patricia (Kietzman) Ihnat.
