Joan Ruby Caldwell

JOAN RUBLY CALDWELL, 88, passed away peacefully on Labor Day at her home in Indianapolis. She was born November 12th, 1926, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the daughter of real estate developer Owen Bruner Caldwell and developer and home designer Harriet Rubly. She is preceded by her sister, Dr. Marilyn R. Caldwell M.D. and survived by her nephew Craig Caldwell, cousin John Caldwell and his wife Jane, and many friends.

Joan worked for over two decades as the Principal Attorney for the Metropolitan Planning Department, zoning the City of Indianapolis. As head of the Legal Division, Joan advised the Metropolitan Plan Commission, Plat Committee, Metropolitan Board of Zoning Appeals, and the Executive Director and his staff in all matters of litigation, zoning, variances, platting, and street vacations. Joan was responsible for drafting ordinances, motions, resolutions, bonds, notices, contracts, and legal opinions, including the Subdivision Control Ordinance for Marion County that shaped Indianapolis as it grew through the 1960's and 1970's.

Joan began work as an attorney in the Planning Department in 1958 and became their Principal Attorney in 1961. She was a graduate of the Indiana University School of Law where she received her Doctor of Jurisprudence degree with distinction in 1957. At IU, Joan was a member of the Order of the Coif, and a senior writer for the Indiana Law Journal. She was admitted to practice before the Indiana Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana in 1957, and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit in 1961.

Joan graduated from the Herron Art Institute with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1951, and she received her Master of Fine Arts degree the following year, while also taking classes at Butler University. Joan exhibited her oil paintings in numerous national and regional art exhibitions around Indiana, and received multiple awards. The majority of her works are in the American Impressionist style. One of her paintings is in the permanent collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Joan graduated from Shortridge High School in 1944, receiving the Alpheus C. Snow award for the highest scholastic record and the Phi Beta Kappa award. After graduation, she was trained as a classical pianist and attended the Chicago Musical College from 1944 to 1948, as a special student of virtuoso Dr. Rudolph Ganz.

Joan was a member of the American Bar Association, the Indiana State Bar Association, Indianapolis Bar Association, Indianapolis Lawyer's Association, and American Judicature Society. She was an advocate of Historic Preservation and a member of the Indianapolis Historic Landmarks Foundation. Joan also was a member of the Art Association of Indianapolis, the Indiana Artists Club of Indianapolis, and the Herron Alumni Association, as well as serving on the Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Women's Committee, and in the Indiana State Symphony Society.