Kenneth Neal Giffin

Longtime Indianapolis City-County Council member Kenneth N. Giffin passed away at St. Vincent Hospital on October 17, 2023. Born in Martinsville, Indiana, on February 23, 1944, Ken was the son of Kenneth Carlyle Giffin and Alice Jane Stokesberry Giffin. A graduate of Mooresville High School, Ken served as student body president in 1962. He received his B.S. from Indiana University in 1966.

Ken had a long and active career in both government and business, beginning when he served on the staff of U.S. Congressman William G. Bray from 1965-1970. From 1970-71, Ken was a legislative staff aide to Indiana Governor Edgar D. Whitcomb. He then held banking positions at American Fletcher Bank before holding executive positions for 32 years at the Indianapolis Water Company, serving as senior vice president and as president of Waterway Holdings, a real estate and development subsidiary.

From 2004-2010, Ken served as vice president of Indiana Railroad Company, and as a private consultant beginning in 2010, serving firms including KERAMIDA Inc.; Patriot Engineering; and Crestline Communities.

Ken’s political activities included serving four elected terms on the City-County Council, spanning the years 1972-1976 and 1984-1996. During those tenures, he ran 24 times in primary elections for party posts and Council seats and won 24 times. On the Council, Ken served as majority whip and chaired three different committees over time: economic development, parks and recreation, and metropolitan development. Ken also served on the Marion County tax adjustment board, the public transportation board, the public safety board, and the Indianapolis Airport Authority Board of Directors.

Ken was appointed by five different Hoosier governors to various boards or commissions, most notably by Governor Mitch Daniels to the Indiana State Board of Tax Control for Local Government in 2005 until its termination in 2009.

He was awarded four different Sagamores of the Wabash, one of the highest honors a Hoosier citizen can receive. These were bestowed upon him by Governor Whitcomb in 1972 and then subsequently by Governors Bowen, Orr, and Bayh in 1978, 1984, and 1996. He was personally proud of this award’s association to his wife’s family, as her grandfather Ralph F. Gates created this honor when he served as governor from 1945-1949.

In local Republican politics, Ken served as precinct committeeman, ward chairman, and for 14 years as treasurer of the Congressional District GOP committee. Ken also served as a delegate to seven GOP state conventions and to three GOP national conventions. He was twice a Presidential Elector or alternate Elector for Indiana, both in 1988 and 1996.

In business circles, Ken proudly served as a director of Fifth Third Bank of Indiana from 1989-2000; as National Treasurer of the American Legion and its endowment fund corporation from 1984-1992; as a member of the Marian College Board of Trustees for six years, and as national chair of the government relations committee of the American Waterworks Association for eight years. He was inducted into the Mooresville High School Wall of Success in its founding year, 2011.

Ken loved his family above all else. He was married to Marjie Gates Giffin of Indianapolis for 48 years and they are the parents of three, all of whom reside in the Indianapolis area: Christopher Gates Giffin (Jenica); Matthew Kunkel Giffin (Emily); and Elisabeth Anne Speckman (Christopher). They share five grandchildren: Bailee Anne, Emersyn Grace, and Parker William Giffin and Bronson Ellis and Tatum Carlyle Speckman. By a previous marriage, Ken was the father of two sons, Brian M. Giffin of Westfield and Rt. Rev. Robert T. Giffin of San Antonio, Texas, and was preceded in death by a daughter, Katheryn.

Ken was a longtime member of St. Pius X Catholic Church in Indianapolis, where eulogies and a Mass of Christian Burial will be held beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, October 21. Visitation will be held the previous evening from 4:00-8:00 at Leppert Mortuary, 740 East 86th Street. Interment will be held at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Cemetery following the funeral mass. Memorial contributions may be made in Ken’s behalf to Riley Children’s Foundation or St. Pius X Catholic Church.

To share a memory, condolence, and to make a memorial contribution, please visit www.leppertmortuary.com.