Michael B. DuBois

Over the last year, he has been writing about his life. The quotations included below are Mick’s words from his stories. Of recording his stories, he wrote, “[Writing] has stirred up stuff that has been out of my awareness for a long time. And it has changed my viewpoint about my past, my parents, and my concepts about my self.”

Mick was born in 1940 in Lafayette, Indiana, where his parents Ramon B. DuBois and Olive Louise Taylor raised him, his older brother Don, and his younger brother Philip. On his parents: “I feel so moved and a little teary-eyed remembering [ ] Dad and Mom…and so grateful. But I don’t remember ever thanking them. So I am going to thank them now. Thank you, Mom and Dad for always being there when I needed you.[ ] Thank you for loving me. I wish you were here so that I could tell you face to face. Thank you for being such a good Father and Mother. I love you.” Of his brothers, Mick wrote, “I consider myself lucky that I have such a close relationship with my brothers. [ ] Seeing my brothers is one of the favorite events in my life. And now that we are getting older, these times together have become more and more special.”

He graduated from IU medical school in 1967. At IU, he studied music as well as medicine. He was a lifelong piano player and vocalist; music surrounded him always. As did love. He met the love of his life, Rita Maria Norquest DuBois, at IU. Of Rita, he said: “[M]y heart opened with Rita. My passion and attraction to her came straight from way inside me, not from outside influences. And it was overpowering and wonderful, unlike any passion or heart’s desire I had ever experienced before or since. It was as if the universe had been opened to me. [ ] And I just knew with Rita…I just knew.” Mick followed Rita to Sweden where she was an exchange student. He arrived to visit her with a guitar under his arm and an engagement ring in his pocket. They were married in 1967.

Mick and Rita raised two adored children. His daughter, Catharine Louise Du Bois Sherry (Jacob), was born in London, where Mick had a 2-year fellowship at Fulham Hospital. His son, Andrew Michael DuBois (Adelaide), followed three years later, born in Indianapolis, where the family settled in the Old North Side. Mick was a founding member of the Old Northside Historic Neighborhood Association and donated the land for Shaun Grove Park at 14th and Alabama Streets. Mick built a rich and satisfying life in Indianapolis, where he practiced internal medicine for 40 years and where he lived until his death. He was a friend and support to anyone who knew him, giving his time and wisdom unflinchingly.

He would be the first to reach out to a friend or loved one in need. He was introspective and willing to look closely at difficult things with others and in himself. Mick: “I particularly like the story of Pinocchio, the puppet. For much of my early life and sometimes even now, I have felt a bit like a puppet whose strings were held [ ] by others. Just as Pinocchio becomes a real boy as he develops his authentic self, learns to love himself as he is, and as he develops self-validation, I identify with Pinocchio as he becomes real. And when Pinocchio joyfully declares, ‘I’m real. I’m a real boy!’ I notice a smile on my own face and a feeling of joy.”

Mick loved deeply, laughed easily and joyfully. He cried at commercials, loved movies, and read voraciously. One night, after watching “The Great Outdoors,” the family replayed a certain scene twice just to watch him laugh at it again. He played the piano daily; he sang often. He was a well-loved member of the Christ Church Cathedral Men and Boys Choir for many years.

He survived Anaplaștic thyroid cancer and Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. In the end, it was COVID pneumonia that ravaged his fragile lungs. He is loved and missed by his wife and children, his brothers, his nieces and nephews, and his 11 grandchildren, who were a joy to him. He is also survived by countless others who considered him father, friend, confidant, healer, and constant support.

From Mick to those he loved, who are too many to number: “I wish you all the best. And I’ll be watching over you and blessing you from heaven.”

Celebration of life will be held on Friday at Leppert funeral home from 2-6pm. A mass of Christian burial will be offered for Mick at Saint Martin’s Catholic Church in Yorkville, Indiana, on Friday, August 16 at 11:00am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to The ManKind Project.