Mary Ellen Rust

Mary Ellen Rust of Indianapolis died at the age of 93 on August 19, 2022. She died peacefully, surrounded by three generations of her family, as well as the dogs that she loved so much. The daughter of Claude and Katherine Shutt, she was born in Gary, Indiana, and attended Horace Mann High School and Indiana University, where she majored in Sociology and was a member of Mortar Board and Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. She was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Dr. R.B. Rust, Jr., her parents, her sister, Joy Wienke, and her loving companion, David Gadd.

She was devoted to her family, of whom she was very proud, and expressed her wish that her obituary be about their accomplishments (a wish we could not honor!). Survivors include her children and their spouses: Roland “Tom” Rust and Ming-Hui Huang, Marcy and John Taylor, Jim and Trudy Rust, Kathy and David Tavitian, Mark and Judy Rust, as well as her “honorary daughter,” Leticia Rojo Quiroga and Phil Brant. Surviving grandchildren and their partners are Sara Spalding, Lisa Spalding, Kerry Spalding and Jason Kidd, Adam and Sunshine Tavitian, Scott Tavitian and Stefany Sit, Daniel Tavitian, Bryan and Kate Rust, Owen Rust and Raquel Phillips, Shauna Rust and Michael Fallahkhair, and Evan and Mitta Rust. Great-grandchildren are Miguel, Mariana, Nicolas, and Raisa Spalding-Price, and Max and Sam Spalding-Kidd. She is survived by many close friends, whom she dearly treasured, including many in the bridge community, and at the Forum at the Crossing, where she lived for several years. The family is very grateful for the compassionate, loving care by Paradigm hospice, with special thanks to Jackie Anderson and Carmen Johnson.

Mary Ellen worked at Moore Business Systems, and later as a realtor with Jerry Tarshes Company and then the F.C. Tucker Company. She was an ACBL Gold Life Master duplicate bridge player and played frequently in regional and national bridge tournaments. She was a founding member of the Indianapolis Bridge Center and served as President of the Central Indiana Bridge Association. She was honored with the prestigious Fran Pettijohn Award by the local bridge community. She was passionate about music, and was an accomplished piano player. She was brilliant, witty, an avid reader, played a wicked game of Scrabble, and was a stickler for good grammar. Mary Ellen doted on her grandchildren and had a tradition of taking each one individually on a special trip. The grandchildren have fond memories of lively games of Gin Rummy with her, and her chocolate chip cookies.

Mary Ellen was both strong and compassionate. Never a pushover, she was a caring, empathetic, and generous person who made everyone feel special. She cared about making the world a better place, and worked for justice, equity, and equal opportunity for all. She supported numerous organizations aligned with those values, including Gleaners Community Food Bank, the ACLU, and the Huntington’s Disease Society of America. She also volunteered with Day Nursery of Indianapolis.

She spent her final years living with her daughter Kathy, where she enjoyed time with family and friends, watching wildlife at the bird feeder, and happy hour with her daily martini. In the week before her death, she assembled a few of her favorite things into a tote bag, including her favorite sheet music. She said that it was her bag for the station, and she was ready to go.

A celebration of Mary Ellen’s life will be held on September 10th at Crown Hill Cemetery, with calling hours from 12-2 p.m. and a memorial service at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Indiana Chapter of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America (tinyurl.com/HDSAINDIANA).