Jon Stephen Theobald

Jon Stephen Theobald, 75, made his final landing Monday, January 29, 2018, at his home in Marquette Manor.  He goes to join his son, Matthew.  He is survived by Pat, his wife of 51 years, his son Curtis, his 96-year-old mother Juanita, and his brother Dan and family.  Friends Steve Green, Darryl Moore, and Christine Nguyen stood by him through his long illness along with many others.  Caregivers Judy, Gloria, Sophia, Steve, and others from ComForcare Senior Services and Alliance Home Health provided companionship and support as did St. Vincent Home Hospice in his final week of life.  We also thank our tireless entertainment director, Miss Ginger Kitty. He was… A veteran     Jon’s first Air Force service began in Lincoln, Nebraska, in the Strategic Air Command during the period that included the Cuban Missile Crisis.  He was deployed to Vietnam in 1962 on a civilian passport as “an advisor”.   He fell in love with the long history and rich culture of the country – a passion that lasted throughout his life. He once played tennis with Nguyen Cao Ky at the Cercle Sportif in Saigon. His tour ended a few months after the assassinations of the President of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, and three weeks later of President John F. Kennedy, a pivotal period that brought the USA fully into the war. A student and teacher Jon left the Air Force in 1964 to pursue the college education he had begun at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.  The GI Bill enabled him to complete a degree in Economics Education at Indiana University.  He taught Economics first as part of the newly integrated Crispus Attucks High School in 1968, then for 24 years at Plainfield High School.  He completed and M. A. and doctoral coursework at Ball State University and taught Physical and Cultural Geography at IUPUI at night for many years. He received the Olin-Davis Award for outstanding Economics instruction and helped to pioneer Junior Achievement’s secondary school Economics projects, his efforts leading to a national fellowship to J. A. headquarters in Colorado Springs. He served as Women’s Tennis Coach at both Attucks and Plainfield (his co-coach at Attucks was Charlene Lugar) and as a Junior High Football Coach at Plainfield. Jon read everything he could find about Vietnam:  the French and American wars, but, more important, its history, geography, culture.  In 1971 he was awarded an NEH Fellowship to pursue his interest in Asian Studies at the East-West Institute of the University of Hawaii, taking his family along.  He and Pat returned to Hawaii a number of times later on. Jon loved Vietnamese food and was a regular for decades at Huong’s Sizzling Wok and the #1 Eggroll in Beech Grove. He attended and supported An Lac Buddhist Temple. A tennis player and fitness buff Jon had been an all-state tackle for Shelbyville High School, and, at 30, took up tennis seriously, playing until 2016 when illness made it impossible to continue.  He played team tennis for many years, and his teams participated annually in national tournaments in Palm Springs for many years.  After his first stroke in 2001, he learned to play tennis lefthanded and was nominated by then coach Miguel Dungo as an example of courage in stroke recovery.  An article appeared in the Star.  Max Dockins, NIFS Fitness Coach at Marquette, helped him to stay strong despite the setbacks. A pilot After  he left the Air Force, Jon earned his pilot’s license, commercial and instrument licenses and qualified as a flight instructor at O’Hare Field in Chicago.  As Operating Officer of the I. U. Flying Club, he (and Pat) enjoyed “getting away from it all”  while still I. U. students.  This became a lifelong enjoyment. A music lover  He loved Galveston, Tennessee, show Randy’s Record Ship in high school and was a fan of all things Motown, the Beach Boys, Frankie Valli, the Eagles, Elton John, and Bruno Mars, to mention a few. He and Pat saw the Everly Brothers and Jerry Lee Lewis live at the Hollyoak and attended concerts at Conseco Fieldhouse, the Pavillion in Carmel, and Conner Prairie Farm, seeing Frankie Valli live at the Murat not too many years ago.  They used to go to the Jazz Kitchen to see Steve Corn, who became one of their caregivers, play jazz piano along with former neighbor, Claude Sifferlen.  They have been ISO Classical and Pop ticket holders for many years and continued to enjoy those concerts this season.  He loved karaoke.  He had the ability to hear the first chord of a song and identify it. A traveler  The family traveled regularly to France and to England and Germany as well as to the American West, to Civil War battlefields, Harper’s Ferry and frequent trips to Washington, D. C. , often to visit Bill Hopkins, a friend from their I. U. days. In 1996, Lilly Teacher Creativity Grants – separately awarded – allowed the couple a trip to Vietnam, touring from the Delta and Saigon up to Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, visiting Jon’s former bases at Bien Hoa and Da Nang and other sites he mapped out in advance tiwh the help of Indy native Doug Reese, a Cathedral and Notre Dame graduate and Medal of Honor recipient who was working to bring mixed American/Vietnamese children from the war to the USA as citizens if they wished. Jon returned again in 2000, his retirement year, with Indianapolis friend, Xuyen Hinh.  In 2004, he and Pat returned with the Hinh family to visit and tour.  In 2008 they returned with two other couples on a grand tour of the country again, revisiting many areas and finding the country greatly changed each time.  One of the highlights of that trip was a stay in Se Pa on the mountainous Chinese border.  Another was a side trip to Angkor Wat.  While waiting for the flight to Cambodia, they watched CNN, reporting the Presidential election.  When Obama’s victory was announced, the whole waiting room burst into cheers.  The battlefield of Dien Bien Phu was still on Jon’s bucket list, but time ran out for that. Jon and Pat traveled to China in 2001, her retirement year, with a group from Perry Township and Ball State University.  They traveled with the nuns of An Lac on a Buddhist pilgrimage to India and Nepal in 2009.  Their last trip abroad was in 2011 to Russia where they were guests of their friend Bill Hopkins in the U. S. Embassy. His soul will be honored, as he wished for seven consecutive Sundays (Feb. 4- Mar. 18) at 11 a.m. at An Lac Buddhist Temple on 30th and Emerson. Those wishing to donate may consider An Lac Temple (5249 30^th Street, 46218), NAMI Indiana (namiindiana.org) the Marquette Foundation (marquetteseniorliving.org/marquette-foundation) or the charity of their choice.