John Bradley Marvel

John left us far too soon. He was one of a kind. When he was first told he had terminal pancreatic cancer his response was that he had loved and lived more than he ever thought he would. Through all the pain and treatments, he kept his wonderful sense of humor, always treating his family and friends to a wry smile or a joke. He loved his family and friends dearly – he cherished all the visits, phone calls, and cards reminiscing on the good times they all had together.

John graduated from Indiana University and started his career at EDS. Back when the guys had to be clean shaven, wear white button-down oxford cloth shirts and rep ties. That wasn’t exactly his style, but he coped. From there he went to Analysts International (AIC), where he spent 16 years and worked his way up to managing a team. AIC was followed by Simon Property Group, Sallie Mae, Navient, Anthem, before coming back to Sallie Mae where he retired in November of 2021. Throughout his career he impacted many lives and truly enjoyed mentoring and growing those people on his team.

John always knew he would want to do something after retiring from his career. He was not one to sit idly and needed something to keep his hands busy and his brain active. He ended up working with his friend Tim on Tim’s custom woodworking business. Tim was teaching him everything there was to know about building custom bookcases, built-ins, cabinets, you name it. He was loving learning a new skill and everyone could see he had found a new passion. He came into this new passion with a lot of experience already as the family handyman. He could fix just about anything. He learned his handy-man skills from his wonderful father-in-law, Donald. He put those skills to good use upgrading and improving every family home he lived in and helped his children with projects in their homes.

Family was John’s priority. He was so proud of his two children, and he absolutely adored his grandchildren. You could be sure at any family get together the grandkids would be playing with their Pawpaw, when he wasn’t cooking.

John was the family cook and loved to share food with family and friends. Family parties – which were frequent – were always an excuse to try a new recipe or bring out an old family favorite. Cooking was one of the ways John expressed his love. He was not always able to vocalize those feelings, but he could drown you in love with his food. He was very skilled in the kitchen and loved to take inspiration from a recipe and truly make it his own dish. He passed along his passion and skills to his son, Tom, and his son-in-law, CJ.

He and Pam also shared a love of traveling. As anyone who followed along their trips through John’s emails can attest to, they always had an amazing time, but they weren’t without a few misadventures along the way. He and Pam especially loved cruising, whether they were Caribbean cruises with the entire family or European cruises with Pam to Italy, London, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris, he loved them all. He also enjoyed reading, golfing, and cycling.

John is survived by his wife, Pamela of 43 years; his children, Samantha (CJ) Jeffries and Tom (Cory) Marvel; his grandchildren, Erinn, Charlotte, and Cooper Jeffries; his sister Kate (Cornelius Martin) Marvel; his brothers John (Linda) Peschau, Pete (Cindy) Peschau, Ken (Sherry) Marvel, and Matt (Marion) Marvel; his mother-in-law, Pat Orner; and his sister-in-law, Debbie Orner. John was predeceased by his mother, Marjorie Peschau; his father, L. Dale Marvel; his stepfather; Ed Peschau; and his father-in-law, Donald Orner.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Central Indiana Lab Rescue (CILRA), the Humane Society for Hamilton County, or a charity of your choice.

The calling will be Friday, August 11 from 4 to 7 at Flanner and Buchanan – Carmel, 325 E. Carmel Drive. The service is on Saturday, August 12 at 11:00 at Fairview Presbyterian Church, 4609 N. Capitol Ave, Indianapolis. There will be a Celebration of Life gathering after the service starting at 12:30 at the Northside Events and Social Club at 71st and Keystone. All are invited to attend and share stories about John with the family and friends gathered there.