Dawn Ellen Mercer

Dawn E. Mercer joined her beloved husband John in heaven on May 22, 2025. Her final days were spent with family, including her three sons, at her bedside, laughing and reminiscing. Dawn was born to Arthur and Lillian Janes in Rockford, Illinois, on October 15, 1938. The family later moved to Indianapolis, and she graduated from Broad Ripple High School. Dawn was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, which she attended until she met her soul mate and love of her life, John Mercer. They were married on June 26th, 1957.

Her Christian faith was paramount in her life. She served as a Deacon and Elder at Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis and was also a member of First Presbyterian Church in Bonita Springs, Florida. Dawn attended multiple Great Banquet retreats as a guest and as a leader. She also served as a Sunday School Teacher and the Director of the Children's Circle Preschool of Second Presbyterian Church.

In 1988, Dawn completed her Bachelor of Science in Education from Indiana University and began teaching third grade at St. Richard’s Episcopal School in Indianapolis. Dawn volunteered as a docent at the Indianapolis Museum of Art for many years. She was a talented watercolorist and gardener, and expressed her love of art in many ways, including fresh and dried floral arrangements. Dawn was an adventurer, completing a four-day hike on a portion of the Appalachian Trail in Vermont’s White Mountains on four separate occasions. She also loved water and snow skiing, and sailing. Dawn and John loved being at the lake; first at Chapman Lake and later at Lake Wawasee. She and John loved to travel and spent the winters in Bonita Springs, Florida, until moving there permanently. Later, they returned to Indianapolis and established a home at Marquette Manor.

John and Dawn raised three sons, John S. (Jay) Mercer (Joan), David A. Mercer (Joy) and Daniel L. Mercer (Missy). They, along with six grandchildren, Eric S. Mercer, Amy L. Cimino (Joseph), Emily Mercer (Riley Dengler), Allison Mercer, Matthew Mercer and Thomas Mercer, and great-grandchildren, Kylie K. Mercer, and Margot M. Cimino, will miss her dearly.

Dawn is further survived by siblings Tom Janes, Rick Janes, Catherine High, and many nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her sister Pat Clendenin.

Services will be held Saturday, July 12, 2025, at Second Presbyterian Church, 7700 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46260. Family and friends will gather from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm, and the Service will begin at 1:00 pm. The service will be live-streamed at: https://www.secondchurch.org/funeral

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Children's Circle at Second Presbyterian Church.