John Rhodes Jewett

A memorial service for John Rhodes Jewett, 98, who died  March 1, will be held at Meridian Street United Methodist Church 5500 N. Meridian Street  on Saturday, March 6, 2021 at 10:00 AM .  The service will be followed by light refreshments in the parlor.  He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Marybelle “Bram” Bramhall Jewett, his sister Martha Jewett Yeo, and his parents Chester Aten Jewett, and Grace Rhodes Jewett.  Mr. Jewett is survived by his children, John Rhodes Jewett Jr. (Perry), and Jane Bramhall Jewett, his grandchildren, Lauren Bockstahler Jewett Prifogle (Kyle), John Rhodes Jewett III (Charlene), Charles William Jewett (Eri), his great grandchildren Emerson Grace Jewett Prifogle, and Bramhall William Nash Prifogle, his nephews Thomas Shackleton Yeo and John Jewett Yeo.

Mr. Jewett was born in Indianapolis during the mayoral term of his uncle Charles W. Jewett.  He was devoted to his family and his love and care touched all.  His grandfather Jewett, a Methodist minister, inspired him to be a faithful Christian and to live by the “golden rule”.  His father was the example he followed. He would often say, “I hope my father is as proud of me as I am of him.”

In 1936 the Jewetts moved to Shelby County to live on his maternal grandfather Alonzo Rhodes’s farm.  Mr. Jewett graduated from Shelbyville High School in 1940.  He graduated a Rector Scholar from DePauw University.  During World War II he served in the US Army Signal Corp in China.  He returned in 1946 and married Marybelle Bramhall.  Mrs. Jewett died in 2018 after 72 years of marriage.

Mr. Jewett worked briefly at Eli Lilly before joining the Pitman-Moore Company in 1949.  He represented Pitman-Moore as one of only 6 companies licensed to manufacture the polio vaccine.  In 1962 he joined the F.C. Tucker Company as a commercial realtor.  He was instrumental in the development of Market Square Arena, serving as President of Market Square Associates and later also as Chairman/CEO of the NBA Indiana Pacers.

Mr. Jewett was active in many civic organizations throughout the years and was especially involved in Republican politics.  He was a past President of the DePauw Alumni Association and in 2003 he was named a Sagamore of the Wabash by Governor Frank O’Bannon. He loved the family farm, and he and Mrs. Jewett were longtime members of Meridian Street United Methodist Church and former members of Meridian Hills Country Club.