Theodore "Ted" John Planje Jr.

Theodore (Ted) Planje, Jr., 80, of Indianapolis, passed away peacefully at home on May 18, 2026. Ted is survived by his wife Rosalie (Lee) Lange; his daughters, Alexandra (Alexa) K. Planje, of Indianapolis, and Elizabeth D. Planje, of Danvers, Massachusetts; and his brother Curtis E. Planje, of Rolla, Missouri. He was preceded in death by his parents, Theodore J. Planje, Sr., and Miriam Planje; and by his first wife Dorothy Peterson Planje.

Born in St. Louis, Ted grew up in Rolla, a university community in the northern Ozarks that is equal parts high-technology enclave, small Midwestern town, and rugged countryside. He was fortunate to be educated in an outstanding public school system. He loved sports, especially the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. He graduated from Rolla High School; Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, and the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

In his first jobs, Ted reported on state government for the Missouri Press Association News Service and the Jefferson City News-Tribune Co. After serving as the communications and research director for a congressional campaign in western Missouri in 1976, he moved to New York City, and worked in the New Jersey-based communications groups of Bell Telephone Laboratories and Schering-Plough Corp. In 1983, he became director of corporate communications for Avon Products, Inc., in New York.

In 1980, Ted married Dorothy Peterson, a consumer-affairs professional from the Texas Panhandle community of Plainview. The family moved to Indianapolis in 1986 when Ted became the senior writer in the corporate affairs division of Eli Lilly and Company. For many years, Ted supported the firm’s senior officers, as the company’s director of executive communications. He worked with accomplished Lilly colleagues, including Terry Busch, Rob Friedman, Gary Geipel, Dawn Neal, Neil Pickett and the late Ed West.

Dorothy died of breast cancer in 1994. With help from family, friends and colleagues – particularly Debbie and Bob Falk and Jennifer Pearlman -- Ted and his daughters navigated the subsequent years of school and college.

Ted retired from Lilly in 2006. On July 15, 2007, he was reacquainted with former Lilly colleague Lee Lange in the parking lot of Second Presbyterian Church before a Sunday morning service. They were married on November 1, 2008. Lee’s career in health-care-related marketing communications and government relations included managing public relations for Lilly products. More recently, she has been involved in a number of civic, non-profit, and church duties.

Ted and Lee valued time with family and friends. They traveled throughout the United States and abroad. The couple spent summers at the Lange family cottage on Walloon Lake in Michigan, enjoyed music through the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Jazz Kitchen, and expanded their family traditions around the Indianapolis 500. Ted sustained his interests in international relations, American and European history, business and fiction. Although he remained a member of Second Presbyterian Church, he attended Tabernacle Presbyterian Church where Lee’s family have long been members.

After retiring, Ted served on the board of St. Richard’s Episcopal School, which Alexa and Elizabeth attended. He served as board secretary, vice president, and president of the Board of Trustees, and as vice president of the Foundation Board. He also chaired three head-of-school searches. He was involved with his college social fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, as an alumni advisor for Beta chapters at Westminster and DePauw University.

Visitation will be June 4 at Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, 418 East 34th St., starting at 10 a.m. followed by services at 11:30 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to support aspiring engineering students at the University of Missouri. Designate donations to the Theodore Planje, Sr. Scholarship, MS & T Foundation, Attn.: Dir. of Planned Giving, 1100 Pine St., Rolla, MO 65401-2827; or the Parkinson’s Foundation, P.O. Box 6003, Albert Lea, MN 56007-6603