Carmen Mesas Toerne

Carmen (Mesas) Toerne, 95, passed away peacefully at her Henderson, Kentucky home on June 20, 2025, surrounded by her loving family. She was born in Gary, Indiana on July 3, 1929, to the late Francisco and Matilda (Sanchez) Mesas and grew up in the multiple cultures of the thriving immigrant communities there.
Carmen was her own person. She graduated from high school in Gary after her junior year as class salutatorian after getting a B in her final semester of Spanish, her native language. She earned a Bachelor's Degree from Ball State Teacher's College and a Master's Degree in Education from Indiana University. She taught elementary school in Gary and Ft. Wayne, and later taught elementary and middle school for many decades in Seymour. After college, she studied for a summer at Columbia University in New York City, and after starting work, she and a friend toured across the county in Carmen's new Buick to visit her family in California for the summer.
She and Bob were married in Gary in 1954. They started their life and family together in Ft. Wayne, living briefly in Ohio as Bob began his long career with Central Pharmaceuticals. Bob and Carmen settled in Seymour in 1960, where they completed their family, were active members of St. Ambrose parish for decades, and always had a beloved family dog.
Carmen was impressively artistic. She sculpted, drew, and painted in both oil and watercolors. She did crafts, decoupaged, made candles and jellies, canned home-grown tomatoes, and always kept beautiful gardens. She was interested in history and culture and traveled extensively with friends and family all over the American continent and Europe and even to China.
Left behind to cherish Carmen's memory are her children, Angela Toerne, Robert (Kristina) Toerne, and Ted (Lisa) Toerne; grandchildren Robbie, Alyssa, Tyler, and Cameron; and multiple nieces, nephews, and close cousins and their children.
She is preceded in death by her parents, listed above; her beloved husband, Robert G. Toerne; and her daughter Mary Elaine Toerne (Jose) Riera.
A funeral Mass for Carmen will be held Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at 11:30 a.m. at St. Ambrose Catholic Church, 325 South Chestnut Street, Seymour, Indiana. Father Dan Staublin and Deacon Mike East will officiate. Visitation will be held at St. Ambrose beginning at 10:30 a.m. until the beginning of the Mass. Carmen will be laid to rest immediately following at Riverview Cemetery in Seymour. Services have been entrusted to Voss and Sons Funeral and Cremation Services, 316 North Chestnut Street, Seymour.
Memorial contributions in Carmen's honor may be made out to Humane Society of Jackson County. You are invited to visit our website, vossfuneralservice.com, to leave condolences, order flowers, or share a memory.