Daniel D. Motto

Retired United Methodist minister and Michiana and Marion Districts Superintendent Reverend Daniel Dee Motto, 85, passed peacefully in the arms of his beloved on March 16, 2025. He is survived by devoted wife of nearly 45 years, Dianne Adelle (Niceley) Motto, in whom he found both true love and partnership, and by the children they shared as a blended family: David Schoo and wife Seana, Phoebe (Motto) DeMund and husband Dann, Steven Schoo and wife Nabiha Gill, Dietrich Motto and wife Anna, Alice Schoo-Jerger and husband Chris; a sister, Chien (Corliss) Motto, nine grandchildren (including “adopted” family members) and one great-grandchild. Dan died in Robin Run’s Healthcare Center, Memory Care Unit in Indianapolis after weathering Fronto-Temporal Dementia (FTD), Primary Progessive Aphasia (PPA) for 9 years. He entered memory care in late 2022, where he was a caregiver favorite due in part to his singing throughout the day.

Dan was born the 4th child, second son, of Helen and John Motto in Anderson, Indiana in 1940. His mother, a devoted Christian woman, insisted that he be raised in the Evangelical United Brethen (EUB) Church, where he witnessed faith in action, but was also alienated by that congregation’s teachings of a wrathful God who punished people for sins with which nearly all human beings struggle. Agnostic and radical in his young adulthood, he attended Indiana Central (now University of Indianapolis), where he met his first wife and graduated in 1962. Though he had stopped sharing the faith of his mother, he nevertheless ended up attending seminary after he had failed to get the scholarship he needed to attend a graduate program in creative writing. He figured he would use the opportunity to write about his exploration and ideas of faith. His seminary education included a year at Andover Newton School of Theology in Boston, and he received his Master’s of Divinity degree from Christian Theological School in Indianapolis. During this time he discovered that God had called him to minister to people about God’s encompassing, redemptive and unconditional love. His mentor, Reverend Hunter Colpitts of Fort Wayne, Indiana, sponsored his candidacy, and he was ordained as a North Indiana Conference minister in 1966.

He served as Senior Pastor to several parishes including: Tocsin (1968-70), Oxford (1980-1986), Union City Wesley (1986-1988), Logansport Market Street (now Crosswind) (1988-1994), and Mishawaka First United Methodist (1994-2000), earning respect for his congregational conflict resolution and inspirational leadership. Before and after Tocsin, he served as a campus minister in Kansas City, Fort Wayne, and Indianapolis. After Tocsin, he divorced and was working at IUPUI when he met Dianne while attending Church of the Savior UMC — where he started a singles group shortly after learning she was also a recent divorcee. They were married June 30, 1980.

He joined the Northern Indiana Conference Cabinet in 2000, and retired in 2006 with 50 years of ministry. God called him back after retirement to serve as interim pastor at Pendleton (2007) and Middletown (2009-2010) before he finally hung up his robe and (mostly self-made) stoles.

Retirement truly took hold when he and Dianne moved to Fishers to be closer to family, and found a church community to join as congregants. They’ve been faithful members of St. Luke’s UMC since then, where they found new friendship and support. He taught Disciple Bible Study classes and he and Dianne traveled around the world and country. They’ve lived in the Robin Run Retirement Community since 2015, and throughout the progression of Dan’s disease.

Dan was known for his prodigious heart and button and pin collections, his artful doodling, and his weekly “Dear Folk” missives to his congregations. He was a deep thinker whose head was often in the clouds, reaching to God for guidance or to express gratitude for both profound and mundane experiences of grace. He saw beauty everywhere, in small and daily moments, and loved to celebrate the extravagant love of God at Christmas (sometimes with as many as seven decorated trees!). Over the years, his theology evolved but remained rooted in a deep conviction that God’s love is for all, and that the work of a faithful Christian is to trust God and let the life and resurrection of Jesus lead and empower each and all of us to be better emissaries of love, mercy, kindness, and justice. He will be missed by all who knew him.

There will be a Celebration of Life for Rev. Dan Motto on 4/26/25 at 4:00pm at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church at 100 W. 86th Street, Indianapolis. Following the service, there will be a time to gather with some light refreshments until 7:00pm.

Memorial gifts are appreciated to the Heartland Methodist Foundation’s Ministerial Scholarship Fund. These can be made online at: https://hm-foundation.org/donate, or sent to 8401 Fishers Center Dr., Fishers, IN 46038-2318.