Joseph "Fred" Frederic Wiese Jr.

After growing up in Coatesville, Fred attended high school at Taft School in Connecticut graduating in June 1953. He was a three-sport athlete in high school playing baseball, basketball, and soccer. He then attended and graduated from Princeton University in June 1957. Following graduation from Princeton, Fred served in the United States Navy from 1957 to 1959 as a Lieutenant Junior Grade.

After serving in the Navy, Fred relocated to Indianapolis, Indiana where he spent his entire professional career working for Indiana National Bank (currently JP Morgan Chase) from 1959 to 1993 retiring as an Executive Vice President. He loved his time with the bank and became lifelong friends with many of his colleagues.

The love of Fred’s life was and always will be his wife of nearly 60 years, Elizabeth Bracken Wiese. Their love and devotion to one another was everlasting. Fred and Elizabeth met through Elizabeth’s best friend and Fred’s cousin. They began dating while Fred was in the Navy stationed in Virginia. They were married on June 18, 1960, in Muncie, Indiana and took residence in Indianapolis where they raised four children and cultivated friendships with many wonderful families and people in the Indianapolis community. Once they became residents of Indianapolis, they were never going to leave.

Fred and Elizabeth enjoyed traveling and had many fond memories of spring break trips with their children to Clearwater, Florida and Bermuda. Later in life, Fred loved visiting Florida with his friend Bill Manion and Arizona with Elizabeth to watch spring training baseball games where he would meticulously keep score of every at bat. He always wanted to get to the games early, so he didn’t miss a pitch. After the games in Arizona, they enjoyed meeting his good friend John Hollett for dinner to compare notes on the respective games they attended. Fred and Elizabeth also loved spending time each summer in Leland, Michigan as well as attending their grandchildren’s sporting events, graduations and other special occasions.

Fred was a part of the founding ownership group of the ABA franchise Indiana Pacers, serving as Secretary and Treasurer. But as mentioned earlier, Fred’s true sports’ passion was baseball. Although Fred was a lifelong Phillies fan, he loved watching or listening to any game he could find as well as reviewing every box score in the newspaper. This love for baseball led to Fred and Elizabeth’s donation to The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis to build Wiese Field, a kid-friendly baseball field for visitors to the museum.

Fred was extremely active in numerous community organizations serving on the Board of Directors of The Christamore House (Chairman), The Children’s Bureau, The Crossroads’ Council of the Boy Scouts of America, The Executive Service Corps, St. Vincent’s Hospital, and Ruth E. Lilly Health Education Center. Fred also served as Trustee of the Endowment Fund at St Paul’s Episcopal Church and was a social member of the Woodstock Club and the University Club.

Fred and Elizabeth created the Luke Bracken Wiese Fund for Juvenile Diabetes Research at Riley Children’s Foundation and made many generous donations to various organizations. They regularly attended St Paul’s Episcopal Church until late in life and donated the funds to build the Wiese Bell Tower which is located at the entrance to the church.

He is survived by his four loving children Brad (Stephanie), Ellen, Ted (Wendy), and Tom (Lhea) and grandchildren (Brianne, Kyleen, Jace, Luke, Annie, Megan, Molly), step grandchild Brayden, great grandchild Santana, and Rogenia Quarles who has been a wonderful blessing to the family for over 40 years. He is preceded in death by his parents Fred and Edith, his wife Elizabeth, and his brother George who tragically passed away at the age of two.

Family and friends are invited to gather on Saturday, September 7th from 1:00pm - 3:00pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, with a funeral service immediately following at 3:00pm. For those who wish to make a contribution in memory of Fred, donations can be made to:

St Paul’s Episcopal Church (https://www.stpaulsindy.org/). The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (https://www.childrensmuseum.org/). Riley Children’s Foundation (https://rileykids.org/)