Carol Mitchell Popp Bennett

Carol Mitchell Popp Bennett, age 96, passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 27, 2026, with her loving family at her bedside. She was born on Saturday, April 26, 1930, in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was a loving daughter, sister, aunt, mother, and friend to so many and her smile and enthusiasm for life enlightened people wherever she went.

Her father Elmer Luther Mitchell and mother Mildred Roberts Mitchell met in Indianapolis when he was the principal of a grade school and she taught at the school as a 2nd grade teacher. Mildred was teaching and counseling one of Elmer’s 3 children after their mother died in a tragic fire at their home. Mildred and Elmer became close friends and were married in 1928. Carol’s half-sisters were Maxine Ardys Mitchell Lemler, Marguerite Mitchell Frost and Phyllis E. Mitchell were all under the age of 17 at the date of their mother’s death.

During the stock market crash of October 1929, the family lost everything and they moved to rural Fulton County near Rochester Indiana to begin farming muck crops in the rich dark soil. There were 6 kids in the family then and they all weeded the onion and blueberries that they grew, and Elmer also worked on developing highbred seed corn along with Purdue. There was no electricity, so the family used lanterns to light the home at night and pumped water by hand. Elmer became an attorney and wrote the first REMC (rural electric membership corporation) grant for the area and electricity was brought to the area. Mildred insisted that the older girls go to high school and that Carol and her younger brother Bob attend grade school, so they bought and renovated a home in the city limits of Rochester and Elmer continued to operate the farm.

In the third grade as part of a craft assignment Carol made marionettes. By the age of eight she was giving marionette shows for the public. While attending Rochester high school the entire family assisted in the performances by creating marionettes puppets from wood and paper-mache, making costumes, building the stage, and producing the skits. The family had a statewide tour which they called the Mitchell Marionettes. Carol added an easel and sketch pad to add cartooning as part of the performance.

After graduating from high school in 1948, Carol received a $60 award for scholastic achievement and a $500 national Tri Kappa scholarship. She also earned a scholarship to attend the summer semester at the John Herron School of Art in Indianapolis.

Carol attended Indiana University, Bloomington school of art and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Speech Education with a teaching degree in 1952. Her half-sister Phyllis E. Mitchell had attended IU but died of tuberculosis while at school when Carol was only 9. Carol paid for her college education by charging a fee for performing with her marionettes and giving chalk talks. She was an active member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority.

During her junior year she was the Vice President of her class which was the highest student elected office possible for a woman at the University. That year she was also the art editor for the Arbutus, the University’s yearbook. As a Senior she was selected for Mortar Board from the top 35% of her class for her capstone activities that support both her final academic years and her post-graduate career.

Carol’s children’s TV show filled with sketching and puppets was aired 2 times a week on WTTV in Bloomington. She also performed at Indiana alumni functions around Indiana and with the “I.U. Madcaps” at Camp Atterbury. She spent a summer performing in Yosemite National Park in California.

The nationally recognized publication THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE announced a new pictorial feature for the magazine. It was to be known as the “Coed of the Month.” In March of 1951 Carol was selected as the first Coed of the Month for the entire country. She was not even aware that she had been nominated by Claude Rich the I.U. alumni secretary.

Lenora Slaugher, Director of the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey saw the picture of Carol in THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE and asked the Rochester Chamber of Commerce to sponsor Carol in the Miss Indiana Pageant. Carol accepted their invitation. Carol designed her gown and her mother made it and she said walking in public in a bathing suit was tough but that it only lasted a moment. She was shocked when she won but she achieved her goal of winning a college scholarship. She was crowned Miss Indiana in Lafayette, IN on August 14, 1951.

During the Miss American Pageant 53 contestants had 4 minutes to present their talent portion for the judges. Carol’s talent presentation was first demonstrating one than two dancing marionettes, and the rest of her time was spent transforming a line drawn by the master of ceremonies into “a picture of a bathing beauty, crown and all.” The chalk-talk was met with wild applause, and she was crowned first runner up to Miss America. She was awarded nearly $5,000 in awards during the pageant which she used to complete her education. After the competition, Carol performed and appeared throughout the Midwest. Carol returned the following year to the Miss America pageant as a TV commentator and accompanied Marilyn Monroe during Marilyn’s appearances as the Grand Marshall at the pageant.

While in New York as Miss Indiana she was interviewed on the Ed Sullivan show. After interviewing and auditioning with Cy Feuer, Carol was cast as the Salvation Army girl in the road show for the Broadway Musical Guys and Dolls. She was also offered a movie contract with 20th Century-Fox after meeting with Metro Goldwyn Mayer. She declined both opportunities so she could finish her studies and obtain her degree at Indiana University.

After graduation Carol married H. Leslie Popp Jr. from Fort Wayne in November 1952. They met at Perfect’s IGA a grocery in Fort Wayne while Carol was handing out roses as Miss Indiana and Les was handing out cookies for the family baking business. Les was a lieutenant in the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.I.) and was commissioned by the Air Force to serve in the Korean War. She followed him to Tokyo Japan in early 1953. She was hired by the USO to arrange entertainment for the families of American service members. The war ended July 27, 1953, and they returned to Fort Wayne.

Carol and Les shared interests in the Art Museum, and during November 1953 they worked on the opening of the first TV station in Fort Wayne WKJG channel 33, the NBC affiliate. Carol produced, edited, and performed the first “live” children’s educational program in Indiana. For 3 years the thirty-minute live TV show aired 3 days a week in the fall and winter. It was called the “Carol and Corkie” show. At 5:00 pm when mothers were making dinner, she entertained the children by sketching cartoons and using the puppets to teach educational lessons. An average of 150 children would write letters to “Corkie” each week. She would use the wiggly lines sent in by the children to create new cartoon sketches. Each broadcast highlighted lessons on safety, kindness, community awareness and how to be a good citizen. Perfection Bakery, known today as Aunt Millie’s Bakery, sponsored the program which was and is still owned and operated by the Popp family.

In 1956 her son Herbert Leslie Popp III (Lee) was born. Thereafter, she was a full-time mother and volunteer in the community. In 1959 her daughter Catherine Lucile Popp was born. Tragically Lee was killed in a head on collision June 1979 near lake Wawasee after returning from his first year at Dickinson School of Law.

Puppetry became an interesting outlet when Carol chaired the Puppetry Committee for the Junior League of Fort Wayne. For 5 years they made their puppets by hand, the women wrote, produced, and performed shows for children in schools in the area. The content of the shows included history lessons, health skits, and fun music. The Junior League Puppet troop was selected to perform at the 1962 Amateur Puppeteers of America national convention in New York.

Carol used her teaching degree to teach art for 1 year at James Smart School. She was a substitute teacher in art and speech at Homestead Highschool for 8 years and she worked as a substitute in the arts and drama department of the Fort Wayne Schools for 5 years.

For 10 years she volunteered her time with the Trinity English Lutheran Church Women’s group and designed the alms basins, frontals, alter kneeling cushions and stoles for the Pastors. She also started a Bible Study after her son’s death that grew into a permanent study for visitors and members at Trinity.

Carol worked for 20 years as an interior designer, which included working at L.S. Ayers and Rojon Interiors which was a company closely affiliated with the prominent builder Roy McNett.

She served on the Fine Arts Foundation Board for 3 years, the Board of the Fort Wayne Ballet Angels board for 4 years, she volunteered as a filed director for the Girl Scouts and was a Cub Scout Troop leader for 2 years. She was an active member of the Fort Wayne Artist Guild and The Saturday Club. She served on the IU Friends of Music Board for 5 years. She stayed active in the Pi Beta Phi sorority. She served on the Scholarship Board for the Miss Indiana Scholarship Pageant and for 10 years judged many other state pageants.

Carol retired from her interior design commitment when her husband Les passed away in 1986. She dedicated 2 years illustrating the Carnival of Animals, Peter and the Wolf, and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice during performances with Director/Conductor Igor Buketoff and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Children’s Concert Series. She Coordinated enrichment programs for the Fort Wayne area elementary schools. She also performed at the local Veteran’s Administration Hospital and other retirement homes in the area.

She collaborated with her sister Elaine VanLue to illustrate many children’s instructional books for NOVA University, in Florida. She also performed puppetry demonstrations at NOVA University Teacher Conferences in Florida.

In 1989 Carol married Carl Bennett. For 24 years they enjoyed traveling and spending the winter months in Bermuda Dunes, California. For 14 years Carol led an Art Group that included painting, guest speakers and artisans, exhibitions, and art shows. She was an active member of the Cochella Valley Art Guild of Palm Springs. She was also a member of the Sun City Palm Desert Art Club. In 2008 her study in pastels was awarded “BEST OF SHOW”.

Carol was a member of Trinity English Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne for 73 years, and she attended St. John Lutheran Church, in Palm Desert, CA.

In 2015 Carol exhibited her art in a Gallery showing at the First Presbyterian Church of Fort Wayne. Her art was also featured in the Allen County Cancer Drive and for the Mental Health Benefit Art Show and at the Towne House Retirement Center. She sold cards and prints for many years locally and painted commissioned portraits for family and friends.

In 2020 Carol was honored by the Indiana Historical Society to represent Northeast Indiana as a “Indiana Community Builder”, because of the “Carol and Corkie” show noting that this was the first Children’s TV show in Indiana. Her oral history and memorabilia from her amazing life is preserved at the Indiana Historical Society. Her advice was to be a good mentor to your family and giving advice, sometimes not when it’s accepted or wanted. There are so many more positive things happening with young people, and I think any field that they take … encourage them and don’t be the wet blanket. We have to be a positive witness to whatever is happening and give it credit if the God that you pray to has been there - because I think we take things for granted. You can’t do anything in life if you don’t buckle down and do the basics and finish what you start.

United States Senator Todd Young is paying tribute to Carol’s remarkable life and contribution to Indiana by entering remarks in the Congressional Record during the month of July 2026.

She is survived by her sister Elaine Mitchell VanLue; daughter Catherine Popp Hoffman; 8 nieces and nephews, 20 grandnieces and nephews; 7 great grandnieces and nephews; 3 stepchildren Sandy Dodane Bennett, Gary Bennett, and Kirk Bennett; 11 step grandchildren; 40 step great grandchildren; and 26 great great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her half-sisters Maxine M. Ford, Marguerite Mitchell Frost and Phyllis E. Mithcell, and brother Robert Wier Mitchell. The breath of love and affection for her family will continue to be an inspiration and example for all of us.

Celebration of Carol’s life will be held Friday July 31, 2026, at Trinity Lutheran English Lutheran Church at 450 W Washington Blvd., Fort Wayne, Indiana 46802. Visitation at 11:00 with the funeral service at 12:00 pm. Graveside prayers and commitment immediately after the service at Lindenwood Cemetery. The visitation is July 30, 2026, at the DO McCombs funeral home located at 8325 Covington Road, Fort Wayne IN, 46804. Visitation for the public is 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

In lieu of Flowers please donate to:

Zebra Broadcasting Network (ZBN) Attention: Jana Vance Administration Office Rochester Schools. 690 Zebra Lane Rochester, IN 46975. Please note your kind gift is for the Carol Mitchell Fund for the middle school TV program.

Ivy Tech Community College Fort Wayne Campus 3800 Anthony Blvd. Fort Wayne, IN 46805. Education/ Elementary & Special Programs. Please note your kind gift is in honor of Carol Mitchell Popp Bennett.

Please see the direct livestream link for the Funeral Service below:

https://boxcast.tv/view/celebration-of-life---carol-mitchell-popp-bennett-1930---2026-bo9jpjhonc50n5nmdphq