A beloved son of Floyd Kuhns Crouse, Sr., and Iva Pearl Yundt Crouse, he was born in the family home in Rossville, Indiana, on August 10, 1931. In 1939, his family moved to Monticello, Indiana. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1949.
He enlisted in the U. S. Army in March, 1951. Infantry Basic Training was at Schofield Barracks in Oahu, Hawaii. He served in Korea in 1951-1952, then spent 18 months at Kaiserslautern, Germany, before being discharged in March, 1954 with the rank of Sergeant First Class. Returning to the states, Floyd enrolled at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, graduating in 1959 with a B.S. in Business.
His love of serving others and strengthening the lives of those around him impacted the Indiana communities in which he lived. In Bartholomew County, he enjoyed working as the Information and Referral Director at the Area XI Agency on Aging and serving as the Public Education Director at Aging and Community Services, where he conducted many Alzheimer’s caregiver trainings and organized local wellness conferences and health fairs. He collected data and raised funding to create a Call/Write Directory for Brown County in 2001, distributing several thousand copies to area residents and government offices. A prolific writer, he contributed articles to the “Past Fifty” magazines for over 10 years. He was employed as the Brown County Veterans’ Affairs Officer and served on the Sycamore Valley Senior Center Board of Directors, Brown County Council on Aging, and the Brown County Community Foundation. In the months prior to his illness, he devoted many hours to creating a one-stop military directory to easily connect veterans and military personnel with local organizations and groups serving veterans.
Mr. Crouse was active in numerous veterans’ organizations, having served as a member and Adjutant of the American Legion, Brown County Post 13; member and Vice-Commander of The American Legion, Indiana 9th District; Life Member, Adjutant and Quartermaster of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Harold “Gene” Moore Post 6195 in Nashville; Adjutant and Financial Officer for The Forty & Eight, Bartholomew County Voiture 1274. He was a co-chairman of the Bald Eagles, a group of military aviation history buffs in Nashville, as well as an avid volunteer at the Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum in Columbus.
He was honored as the Bartholomew County Big Brother of the Year in 1986, the Brown County Older Hoosier of the Year in 1998, Legionnaire of the Year for Brown County Post 13 in 2001, and Area XI Senior Volunteer of the Year in 2002.
Mr. Crouse will be greatly missed by his children, Nancy (Mark DeBusk) Rogerson-DeBusk and Jeffrey D. (Lori) Crouse, both of Columbus and Jon E. Crouse of Indianapolis; grandchildren, Sarah S. (Ryan) Caron of Ottawa, Ontario, Katherine R. (Starkey) DeSoto of Hollywood, Florida, Matthew Bailey (Ariel) DeBusk of Columbus, William G. A. “Alex” Rogerson of Phoenix, Arizona, Cara R. Taylor and Chad T. (Desi Martin) Pumphrey of Columbus, and Morgan L. Crouse of Muncie; great-grandchildren, Aubrey S. and Tristan B. Caron, Mirra S. DeBusk, Preston X. and William C. Desoto, Gracelynn L. Martin and Abberlynn D. Pumphrey ; a brother, Robert C. Crouse of Mequon, Wisconsin, and sisters, A. Catherine Smith of Monticello and Martha A. (Floyd) Legler of Remington; Little Brother Randy Wesley; and many beloved nieces and nephews.
Floyd was preceded in death by his parents; his former wife, Sharon K. (Long) Crouse; his brother, James E. Crouse and his sister, Mary Jean Miller.
A Celebration of Life will be conducted on Saturday, June 9, 2018, at 2:00 P.M. by Reverend Teresa A. Poole at Myers-Reed Chapel, 3729 East 25th Street in Columbus. Interment will follow at Garland Brook Cemetery in Columbus. Friends may visit from 12:00 P.M. until the time of the celebration.
In lieu of flowers, donations made in his memory (“Floyd K. Crouse, Jr.”) may be mailed or delivered to Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum at 4742 Ray Boll Boulevard, Columbus, Indiana 47203.
Please leave condolences or special memories of Floyd online at: www.Myers-Reed.com.
