Plane crash victims remembered for commitment to family, Church
Top: Barbara and Donald Horan kneel in prayer on Aug. 25, 2010, at St. Roch Church in Indianapolis during a Mass for members of the archdiocese’s Miter Society. (File photo by Sean Gallagher) Bottom: Denise and Stephen Butz. (Submitted photo)
By John Shaughnessy
As the news spread about the deaths of four friends in a plane crash near Greensburg on Dec. 2, so did the stories and the memories of how their lives shined a beacon of light on their families, their care for others and their Catholic faith.
Stories were told about how Stephen Butz and Donald Horan were lifelong friends who grew up, played and prayed together.
Memories were shared about how the two men and their wives—Denise Butz and Barbara Horan—always kept their children and their larger families at the heart of their lives.
Tributes were given to the four members of St. Mary Parish in Greensburg for the deepness of their faith, the generosity of their spirit, and the completeness of their commitment to their parish, their archdiocese and their Church.
The stories, memories and tributes followed the heartbreaking news that the two couples were killed when Donald Horan’s single-engine plane crashed in dense fog near the Greensburg airport. The four friends were returning from a weekend together at the Horans’ vacation home in Florida.
“They celebrated their families together, celebrated life together and celebrated their faith together,” said Father John Meyer, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Greensburg. “They were all actively involved in the parish, supporting every aspect of parish life, and volunteering whenever and wherever possible. Their six kids were involved as well in the life of the parish, youth activities and the faith life of St. Mary’s.”
Since the crash, the depth of parishioners’ love and appreciation for the couples and their families has been directed toward the four daughters of Donald and Barbara, and the two sons of Stephen and Denise, Father Meyer said.
“The outreach from the parish has been overwhelming in its care and compassion,” said Father Meyer, who will be the celebrant of the funeral Mass for the four friends in the Greensburg High School gymnasium at 10 a.m. on Dec. 7. “These families are highly respected in the Decatur County community.”
That high respect also extends throughout the archdiocese.
Auxiliary Bishop Christopher J. Coyne expressed the “heartfelt sympathies” of Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin and the entire archdiocese to the families of the two couples.
“I also wish to express my sorrow to the parishioners of St. Mary Parish in Greensburg,” Bishop Coyne said. “Donald, Barbara, Stephen and Denise were good and faithful Catholics, and will be greatly missed. I ask everyone to please keep the Horans and Butzes in their thoughts and prayers.”
Bishop Coyne knew Don Horan from his service to the Catholic Community Foundation, when Don served as president in 2011 and was a member of its board of trustees. The foundation oversees 407 endowments with nearly $138 million in assets. Those funds support ministry in parishes, schools and charitable agencies across the archdiocese. (Read the full statement of Bishop Coyne)
Don and Barbara also served as the general co-chairs for “Christ Our Hope: Compassion in Community,” the archdiocese’s annual appeal, during
2010-11.
“They were great fun and very devoted to each other,” said David Milroy, director of stewardship and development for the archdiocese. “Don was such a go-getter, a high-energy guy. Barb tried to restrain him, but when push came to shove, she was right there with him. A lot of times when you have co-chairs, one will do all the talking. But they were there, side by side.”
Another friend saw the commitment that the Horans and the Butzes made to their families and their faith in the way that Don lived his life.
“He was all about his kids. His whole life was his faith and his family,” said Mike Kirk, associate director of stewardship and development for the archdiocese. “Everything else in his life was to make those two things work.
“Don always said the Catholic Church was so good to him that how could he not give back. Don realized that the gifts he had received were all gifts from God. He saw it as his obligation to share his gifts with his family, including the Church.”
That generosity also extended to the major role that he played in raising funds to build a new Catholic school at St. Mary Parish. That emphasis on Catholic education tied in with the values that he wanted his children to learn.
He focused on those values during presentations to promote the annual appeal, recalling a day when he and Barbara volunteered with their four daughters at Holy Family Shelter in Indianapolis.
“We raked leaves, picked up trash and served a meal to the families,” Don recalled during those presentations. “Our kids learned a lesson that day about serving others, but I learned a greater lesson. I learned they do much more than provide food and shelter to the homeless. They help families help themselves and assist them in becoming self-supportive again while keeping the family together.”
Don ended his presentations by sharing this thought. “A pessimist sees a glass of water as being half empty. An optimist sees the same glass as half full. But a giving person sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty.”
The Horans and the Butzes shared that approach to life—giving everything they had to their families, their friends and their faith. †
