Onis Dee Long

Onis Dee Long, 84, passed away at Carmel Senior Living in Carmel, IN, on Thursday, January 10,2019. Born June 23, 1934, to Onis W. and Garnett E. (Shedron) Long, in Walton, Indiana, in his maternal grandparents’ home and delivered by local physician E. P. Flanagan.  He was preceded in death by his parents and infant sister Sue Rosalie.  The Long Family was among Cass and Carroll Counties’ early settlers, arriving from Somerset Co, PA in the early 1800’s.

He is survived by Mary Lou (Price) Long, his wife of 61 years.  Also surviving are son Eric Dee Long (wife Tracy), Austin, TX, and daughter Mary Beth McCabe (Ken) of New Hamburg, Ont., Canada; grandsons Alexander Long of Bryan, TX and Adam Long of Austin, TX; and 2 great granddaughters.

“Dee” attended the Onward School from first grade until the Onward-Walton School consolidation in his junior year, graduating from Walton High School in 1952.  He received degree in Civil Engineering from Purdue University, and married his high school sweetheart (and lifelong best friend) September 28, 1957, in Walton Christian Church by Rev. Dee Shaffer.

During his 34-year career with Royal Dutch/Shell Oil Company, Products Distribution, he served in several management positions. He particularly enjoyed the position of Railcar Engineering Manager in Head Office, and serving on the American Association of Railroads Railcar Committee, as a representative of the oil industry.  His family grew and benefitted – and learned to adapt – by having the opportunity to live in various cities and regions of the U.S., including Indianapolis, Louisville, New York City (commuting from Wilton, CT by rail), Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Houston, and Portland, OR, before returning to Zionsville/Carmel  to give attention to his aging father, and retiring in 1992.

Sport fishing, especially salt water fishing in Mexico and Costa Rica and river fishing in Venezuela and Peru, with Mary Lou and sometimes with son Eric, was an earlier passion. Dee loved to explore new places and experience different cultures with his wife.  Together they traveled in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand, South and Central America, Morocco, several European countries, and nearly all of the United States.  Because daughter Mary Beth lives in Canada, they have experienced Canada from coast to coast.

Dee and Mary Lou were Master Gardeners together; Dee concentrated his interest in trees, grasses and perennials.  He was proud to be a part of the “greening of America” by planting trees and perennials wherever they lived.  He was able to fulfill his dream of a “retirement hobby farm” which, together, they developed and enjoyed until Alzheimer’s disease caused them to adapt again to a different life style.

Visitation will be held Tuesday, January 15, 2019 from noon to 2 p.m. at Murray-Weaver Funeral Home in Galveston, IN, immediately followed by a celebration of life at 2 p.m. with Pastor Patti Napier of Carmel United Methodist Church officiating.  Interment will be at Walton IOOF Cemetery.  Memorial gifts may be directed to Logansport First United Methodist Church, Carmel United Methodist Church, or Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Indiana Chapter, www.alz.org/indiana. Murray Weaver Funeral Home in Galveston has been entrusted with arrangements. www.murrayweaverfuneralhome.com

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