Marian K. Demyer

Dr. Marian Kendall DeMyer

Ended her life journey on July 15, 2012. She was born in the family home in Greensburg, Indiana to the late Wilbur L. and Margaret (Groenier) Kendall on October 30, 1922. She would have been 90 years old on her next birthday.

She graduated from Rushville High School and Indiana University. Dr. DeMyer was a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine, Class of 1952. She completed a medical internship at Receiving Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. While completing a residency in Child Psychiatry at I.U. Medical Center, she was named Director of the Children's Service at LaRue D. Carter Hospital. After completing her residency, she became Director of Clinical Research Center for Early Childhood Schizophrenia. Dr. DeMyer was a research pioneer in Childhood Schizophrenia, later known as Autism. Her research at LaRue Carter Hospital and the Institute of Psychiatric Research at Indiana University provided the ground work for later research by others that identified and defined the spectrum of Autism. She authored and co-authored numerous publications relating to her research. She and her late husband, Dr. William E. DeMyer, collaborated on numerous neuro-psychiatric studies and writings. She was the author of Parents and Children in Autism, one of the first books for families coping with Autism. She retired in 1993 as Emeritus Professor in Psychiatry.

In addition to her work, she was a champion amateur ballroom dancer. She performed her last dance at the Starlight Ballroom on her 85th birthday. She and her husband were widely known for their prowess on the dance floor and enthusiasm for ballroom dancing.

She enjoyed playing bridge with the Faculty Wive's Bridge Club. She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi Soriority while an undergraduate at Indiana University, as well as Alpha Lambda Delta and Sigma Xi Honorary Organizations.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her older brother, Robert S. Kendall, her younger sister, Mary Carolyn Kendall, and great nephew, Peter M. Kendall.

She was a source of inspiration to her nieces, Lee Kendall (Greg Horvath), South Bend, and Amy Kendall, Granger, IN; nephew and his wife, Mark and Becky Kendall, Mooresville, as well as numerous great and great-great nieces and nephews.

Her children, Carolyn Kendall, David DeMyer, Larry, and daughter-in-law Mary Jo (Dawson) DeMyer will miss her love, friendship and encouragement so very much. Her granddaughters, Jane Wright Mitchell (Douglas), New York City and Karen Margaret Wright, Fishers, IN looked to their grandmother as a role model and inspiration that helped them become the women they are today. Grandson, Luther Ray DeMyer, carries on the dancing tradition that his grandmother loved so much. She is also survived by two great-grandsons, John M. Evans (Jack) and Daniel J. Tourney, who fondly called her "the grandma with the Red Hair."

Funeral service will be Thursday, July 19th at 1:00 PM at Crown Hill Funeral Home, Remembrance Hall. Calling hours will be Wednesday, July 18th from 4:00-8:00 PM and for 1 hour before the funeral service at Crown Hill Funeral Home, Remembrance Hall. Burial will be in Crown Hill Cemetery.