- Date Of Birth: September 12, 1920
- Date Of Death: July 6, 2014
- State: Indiana
Carl Delos Jordan, 93, a lifelong resident of rural Rensselaer passed away in the home of his son and daughter-in-law on Sunday, July 6, 2014, after a long and fruitful life. Carl was born September 12, 1920, at the home of his parents, Walter D. and Sarah Alice (Gilmore) Jordan, who were also long-time area residents. He attended Hanging Grove School up through the 10th grade. Carl graduated from Rensselaer High School 76 years ago and had fond memories of playing basketball with his four brothers during those years.
Carl continued to farm with his father after graduation. He married Norma Jeanne Shook, a Rensselaer transplant from South Dakota, on August 30, 1941, in Rensselaer. Carl obtained his pilot’s license and piloted his own plane for pleasure and as a member of the Flying Farmers. During World War II, he was a member of The Civil Air Patrol. In 1952, Carl and Jeanne moved their young family back into the Home place, now on the Historical Registry, where his great-grandchildren are the 6th generation to reside there.
In later years, while living in the “little house” across the orchard, Carl enjoyed many visits from his “greats” who trooped across the orchard to beg miniature chocolate donuts and to complete puzzles on his living room floor. Besides raising corn, soybeans, oats, and purebred Waukaru Shorthorn cattle, Carl’s Entrepreneurism, included corn shelling, a silage service, hauling popcorn to Chicago and Michigan, retail fertilizer sales, and his ongoing Kent Feed business.
He enjoyed several years as a successful Amway Distributor. From 1980 to 1990 Carl and Jeanne lived in a home on Lake Freeman, Monticello where they hosted their 40th Anniversary Party, as well as many gatherings for family and friends. Carl’s greatest joy was his family and he was extremely proud of the achievements of his eight grandchildren and especially involved in the antics and achievements of his twenty great-grandchildren. He was always involved in the many 4-H projects of his four children.
Carl loved to travel, having visited most of the United States, many Canadian Provinces, the Caribbean, and Italy. He enjoyed watching Purdue basketball, especially at tournament time. In fact, one needed to check the Purdue schedule before trying to reach “Dad” by phone. In recent years, he enjoyed the hospitality of the Rensselaer Senior Center and was an avid and very serious Euchre player at every opportunity. Carl had a large repertoire of jokes and was able to recall the appropriate one (and sometimes inappropriate one!) when the situation arose.
Similarly, at family dinners, he could recite toasts that delighted those gathered. Carl served two terms as Hanging Grove Trustee, and was pleased, as Trustee, to present his daughter Jill’s 8th grade diploma. He was proud to be a member of the Rensselaer Central Schools Holding Corporation when the centralized schools were developed. He also served two terms as Indiana Shorthorn Association President and was later honored as their “Man of the Year”.
In 2000 he was honored by the American Shorthorn Association, which dedicated their National Show & Convention at the North American International Livestock Exposition at Louisville, KY to him. Carl was a member of the Trinity United Methodist Church in Rensselaer. Carl was preceded in death by his parents, Walter and Sarah, son Gregory Lynn at age 20 years, wife Jeanne after 54 years together, and 4 brothers: Elvin (Helen) Jordan, Robert (Frances) Jordan, Dean (Lela) Jordan and Lynn (Gladys) Jordan.
Carl is survived by three children, Barry (Anita Holysz) of Rensselaer, Jill (Roy Ward) of Flagstaff, Arizona, and Jim of Salt Lake City, Utah and Michigan, as well as his eight grandchildren, Jeff, Mark, Toby and Logan Jordan, Anne Burge, Alexis Tchuise, Ryan Ward and Zoe Lonetti, all whom he admired and loved. He is also survived by his beloved twenty great-grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews and cousins. He will be missed by those he left behind.
