Ronald Richard Kovener

Ronald Richard Kovener died peacefully at IU Health Hospice House on July 26, 2023. He was the son of Richard Kovener and Heloise Dutton Kovener, born on December 19, 1932, in Indianapolis, IN. He attended Indiana University in Bloomington and received his degree in accounting; his first job was with Arthur Andersen in Chicago. As a draftee in the Army Audit Agency, he traveled extensively in Europe. He met his wife, Carolyn at the Northminster Group at Fourth Presbyterian church on Chicago’s Michigan Ave. Ron and Carolyn married in 1960 and remained married 58 years until her death in 2018. They lived in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, and Washington D.C. before retiring to Bloomington. During Ron’s career in financial management of NFP (not-for-profit) organizations, he was CFO of two large health organizations and was elected president of his national professional association, the Healthcare Financial Management Association. He founded HFMA’s Washington, D.C. office and was an active leader in the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives. He taught an NFP course at the Univ. of MN and after retiring to Bloomington, he taught a NFP course in IU’s School of Environmental and Public Affairs (SPEA).

He and Carolyn moved to Meadowood in 2011 and in addition to volunteering at his church and community organizations, he devoted his retirement years to his many passions: architecture, travel, the arts, and the Indiana chapter of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity (‘55). He served on the DU House Corporation Board and as Secretary for the Wrangler Foundation, the charitable arm of the Indiana Chapter of DU. He funded the Kovener scholarship each year for an undergraduate member who has given in abundance to the Chapter, the Fraternity, the Campus, and the Community.

Ron was a passionate scholar of the work of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He lectured on Wright in Bloomington and Indianapolis and authored an extensive archive of Wright’s work. He visited and chronicled more than 400 of Frank Lloyd Wright’s 500+ architectural works, fastidiously documenting every architectural detail as well as Wright’s life events as they pertained to each project and stories about the owners of Wright-designed houses.

In addition to his FLLW archive, he was a prolific author of several NFP accounting books, fiery letters to the Herald Times editor, poems and travelogs documenting his travel adventures, and frequent contributions to the Meadowood Anthology, recounting stories of his life. In each year of his married life, Ron designed an annual holiday greeting that always involved unique poetry and elaborate folds.

He often described his life with Carolyn as “jaw droppingly fabulous,” and was able to live independently at Meadowood until his last day, with the support of Meadowood’s dedicated caregivers.

Ron is survived by his daughters Marti Kovener (Drew Watson) of Salida, CO; Lisa Kovener of Lafayette, CO and granddaughter, Zoe Bray of Denver, CO.

Please join us to celebrate Ron’s life on September 1 from 1-3 pm in the Meadowood Terrace Room. Memorial contributions may be made to the Indiana Wrangler Foundation, Inc. Checks made payable to The Indiana Wrangler Foundation Co. can be sent to:

The Indiana Wrangler Foundation Co.

P.O. Box 5155

Bloomington, IN 47407

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.DayDeremiahFrye.com for the Kovener family.