Carolyn Hawthorne Mutz

Carolyn Hawthorne Mutz, mother, philanthropist, educator, and wife, died on September 15, 2026. Born in Indianapolis on December 10, 1935, to Marcia and Gilbert Hawthorne, she grew up in a household in which service to others was paramount. Her father was an accountant for Standard Oil Company, while her mother served as a trailblazing political officeholder during the 1960s. Their daughter would prove to be the glue that kept relationships intact for more than seven decades of her productive adult life.

Carolyn Hawthorne graduated from Broad Ripple High School in 1953, where she was Homecoming Queen. Scholarship and service defined Carolyn’s college years. After a year at DePauw University, where she pledged Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, she graduated from Butler University in 1957. At Butler, she was inducted into Mortar Board and the Kappa Delta Pi national honor society for education and selected as Drift Queen. In 1955, she was runner up in the competition for Miss Indianapolis. Later, she earned master’s degrees in education and pastoral counseling from Butler University and the Christian Theological Seminary. A year after her college graduation, in 1958, she married future Lieutenant Governor John Mutz, whom she had met in their high school freshman algebra class. After a tour of Europe for their honeymoon, they started their own family and improving the quality of life in Indianapolis.

With strong role models around her, Mutz constantly pushed the limits of what a political spouse might do during the heyday of the baby boom. A supportive partner and mother, Carolyn’s most important skill was her ability to see the potential in people. Toward that end she helped establish the Dyslexia Institute of Indiana and became an expert in the Orton-Gillingham method of reading. This multi-sensory approach allowed breakthroughs for individuals and groups who had heretofore been treated as unreachable.

Mutz also was one of the co-founders of Partners in Politics, which she felt was necessary to help train and support spouses whose partners were in the public spotlight. Together with former teacher and friend Betty LeClare, she started a job sharing initiative that foreshadowed the flexibility of jobs in the “gig economy.”

In addition to raising two wonderful children of her own (Diana Mutz and Mark Mutz), Carolyn served as a maternal figure for countless people in Indianapolis and the environs. Whether that was the daughter of family friends like Stephanie Paulsen or an acquaintance through the Solider and Sailors Home of Knightstown like Paul Williams, Carolyn encouraged her family to think of others.

Carolyn’s curiosity led to a special interest in the teachings of Carl Jung. Eventually, this enthusiasm rubbed off on her husband, John. Together, they became eager followers of Jungian analytical psychology. In retrospect, their joint study of Jung helped the couple persist and grow through the tumultuous trials of life. Two drifters, they were off to see the world, as the lyrics of their favorite song, “Moon River,” famously proclaimed.

A mother, daughter, grandmother, spouse, and loyal friend, her lasting legacy was to “never give up on people.” She is survived by her husband of 68 years, John, their two children Mark (Kate) Mutz and Diana Mutz (Robin Pemantle), and grandchildren John Fletcher Mutz, Lucianna Elaine Mutz, Walden Scott Pemantle, Maria Araminta Mutz, and Simone Aravalli Mutz.

Although the last years of her life were compromised by older-onset dementia, she and John continued to enjoy the life that they had forged together over nearly seventy years. Family, Faith, and Community were three of Carolyn’s hallmarks. She remained committed to those institutions throughout her rich and accomplished life.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Carolyn’s memory may be sent to the Dyslexia Institute of Indiana, 8395 Keystone Crossing, Suite 350, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240.

A Memorial Service will be held Sunday, October 4th, at 1:30 p.m. at The Indiana Historical Society, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, with parking available on the north side of the building off of New York Street.