Eileen Marie Foley Tinder

Eileen Marie Foley was born in Indianapolis on September 15, 1918, the fourth child of Dan and Nora Foley, who emigrated from the village of Keel near Castlemaine in County Kerry, Ireland, at the turn of the last century. She grew up on Indianapolis’ East Side, where she attended St. Philip Neri Grade School after making her First Holy Communion at St. Patrick’s Church in Fountain Square. Eileen graduated from St. John’s Academy, and after high school worked as a switchboard operator for RCA.

Eileen met the love of her life, John Glendon Tinder, in the 1930’s, but they didn’t begin to date seriously until 1941. The young captain in the United States Army Air Corps returned home from the service to propose in 1944, and their wedding was on October 14 that year. The Tinders had been married for 52 years when Johnny, as only Eileen called him, passed away in August 1997.

As newlyweds, Eileen and John lived in Little Flower Parish on the East Side. With two young daughters, they moved “to the country” in 1948 to a stone cottage on 40 acres on 91st Street and Masters Road that reminded Eileen’s mother and Aunt Mary of Ireland. Eileen was unflappable, even when a deputy sheriff joined their household after her husband, then the Marion County prosecutor; was the subject of death threats; a would-be assassin was found hiding in a haystack in a field behind the Tinder home. In the 1960’s, the Tinders (now with six children) moved “into town” to a new home on Kessler Boulevard, closer to their children’s schools and activities to which Eileen cheerfully chauffeured them in the family station wagon. Inspired by the countless hours she spent “hauling” the children around, Eileen dubbed the Girl Scout troop she founded at St. Lawrence Grade School the “Road Runners.”

A devout Catholic, Eileen showed her ecumenical side as a founder of the Castleton United Methodist Church Kindergarten. She and her husband were charter members of St. Lawrence Parish, and later joined St. Matthew’s Parish, where she has been a member for the past 49 years. She volunteered as a secretary at St. Matthew Grade School, and was a leader and district chairwoman of the Girl Scouts. She also was a member of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary, the Butler University Newman Club, Chatard Ladies Bowling League and a hospitality volunteer at Community North Hospital.

Eileen was very interested in her Irish heritage, and with her daughters and the help of relatives in Ireland developed a detailed family tree, tracing the origins of the Foley clan and its branches of “Mickies,” “Vickies” and “Taidgh Sean’s” in southeastern Ireland. She enjoyed traveling to Ireland to visit family members who stayed behind, and kept in contact with them with regular letters and later with email. Her cousins said the packages Eileen sent them “smelled like America.” For her 90th birthday in 2008, relatives from Dublin, County Kildare, County Kerry and County Wexford came to Indianapolis to help her celebrate with stories, songs, and Eileen’s trademark drink: two fingers of Jack Daniels and one ice cube.

Eileen enjoyed playing Bridge and other card games with family and friends, even some grade school classmates who were fellow residents at Marquette Manor, where she has lived since 1998. She was happy to have all of her children living close by in Indianapolis, and was a frequent visitor in each of their homes. Quick-witted to the every end, Eileen loved to hear the latest exploits of her great-grandchildren, to whom she was known as “GG” – for great grandmother

Eileen is survived by her younger sister, Mary Jo Dearing; her children, Mary Ann (Richard) Wagner; Patty (Terry) Stephens; John Daniel (Jan Carroll); James Glendon (Mary); Ellen (Michael) Dumm; and Susan (Bill) White; thirteen grand children: Carmen Mendoza, Kate Swanson, Colette Myers and Kristen Wagner; Timothy, Stacia and Ted O’Donnell; Ben Tinder; Sean, Jerry and Ashley Dumm; Erin and Grady White; Phil Stephens and Kay Akard; ten great grand children; and 11 nieces and nephews. Friends may call from 4:00p.m. until 8:00 p.m. on Friday, April 16th at Feeney-Hornak Keystone Mortuary (71st and Keystone). A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 17th in St. Matthew’s Catholic Church. Burial will be at Oaklawn Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Eileen’s name to the Catholic Youth Organization of Indianapolis, 580 E. Stevens Street, Indianapolis, IN 46203. Memorial tribute at www.mem.com