Laura L. Dewester

Indianapolis. Saturday, January 16, 1926. The temperature rose to just below freezing. Butler basketballers celebrated their defeat of DePauw. Desire Under the Elms played onstage at the English Theatre. Prohibition marked its sixth year. And, most notably of all, Laura Lavonne DeWester began the first day of her remarkable life.

Ninety-six years later we pay tribute to that life and bid Laura a bittersweet farewell.

Born to Alonzo and Diadema Hull on the city’s East Side, she spent her childhood loving the playground (especially the swings) and the movies (except for Frankenstein, which sent her running for home). After graduating from Arsenal Technical high school, she worked in accounting at Block’s department store and regaled local servicemen singing in Belle’s Sharps and Flats (All Girl) Band. Performing in a USO show at the Naval Armory, she met a handsome sailor. His name was Lloyd. She married him.

As the handsome sailor became a successful lawyer, Laura raised five children. Three were boys. It wasn’t easy. She brooked no monkey business. Underfoot frolickers were encouraged to “go outside and blow the stink off.” The oft heard admonishment to stay-home-from-schoolers was, “You’d better be sick or I’ll make you wish you were sick.” And the euphemistic, “Christmas and no pies baked!” may have been aimed at a toddler sans pants or a teen in a too short skirt.

While rearing the kids, she also reigned in the kitchen, creating outstanding taco salads, oyster stews, shrimp creoles, and twice baked potatoes. Her desserts, like peanut butter fudge, Harvey Wallbanger Cake, and the outrageous chocolate and whipped cream concoction, Better Than Robert Redford, are legendary.

And happily, she continued to sing, entertaining her restless brood with tunes from her former repertoire. Deep in the Heart of Texas with its kid pleasing hand claps was a favorite. Music, especially ballads and show tunes, kept her going. She tackled the serious stuff too, soloing in her church choir and singing for pay at the occasional wedding or funeral. She also enjoyed attending the symphony and Starlight Musicals, which gave her the opportunity to indulge in another of her passions, dressing up and stepping out. Photos of her at soirees through the decades reveal a lady of fashion with a taste for understatement and a penchant for beige and black.

She took on other pursuits as well, joining a bridge club, the DAR, and Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity; volunteering to serve as a Gray Lady for the American Red Cross; and assuming presidency of the Indianapolis Lawyers’ Wives Club.

Then she became something of a collector. Silver dollars. Art. Dolls. Jewelry, of course. And new experiences, especially the kind that travel brings. Laura often joined her husband for trips to Mexico, Spain, Costa Rica, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the property they had purchased in Hawaii. And after Lloyd died, she continued to tour, visiting the likes of Holland, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Greece, England, and the western U.S.

When she wasn’t trotting the globe, she was hitting the books. An avid reader, she loved a good story. (If a mystery, so much the better.) And though she began losing her sight early on, she never lost her love for a well told tale. So she gradually adjusted from reading to listening by way of CDs, tapes, and The Books for the Blind Program. Typical. Adversity would not stop her.

Vision. Hearing. Memory. Though all faded, her indomitable spirit prevailed. She continued to socialize with friends, dine out with the children, host the grandkids and their pals, and party at big family functions. She was feisty and funny. Equal parts grit and grace. She made keeping on keeping on a high art.

She was also generous. Her last wish was to donate her eyes to research. Eversight, an organization devoted to restoring sight and preventing blindness, is the beneficiary.

So here’s to Laura who loved the song On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.

The glow of her being outshines every star.

Laura is preceded in death by her husband Lloyd L. DeWester Jr.;  son, Gerald DeWester (Kim Diotte); half brother, Virgil Hull; brother Earl Hull; and sisters, Eloise Molloy and Bernice Barkey. She is survived by her children Larry DeWester (Leanne), Cary DeWester (Laurie), Jan DeWester (Jack O’Hara), and Nanette DeWester (Mike Stiskal, partner); grandchildren, Michelle DeWester (Brett Snider, partner), Kimberly DeWester (Pete Raffetto, partner), Brett DeWester (Annie Jaeb), Dirk DeWester (Jen), Amanda DeWester (Kevin Shoop), and Ron DeWester (Megan); great grandchildren, Jordan, Nicklas, Andrew, Richard, and Ariyah; and sister, Waneta Hohlier.

In lieu of flowers, you may contribute to *The Laura DeWester Memorial Scholarship Fund at Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Foundation Fighting Blindness, or Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Family and friends will celebrate Laura’s life on Saturday, May 7 at Nameless Creek Event Center in Greenfield. Details to follow.

*Make checks to: Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, in memo line note “Laura DeWester Memorial Scholarship”. Mail to Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, 7725 N. College Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46240