James Dean Massey

Jim Massey was born on March 31,1935 to Leroy and Lucille Massey in Lafayette, IN. He learned the value of hard work on the farm in his early life. In addition to daily chores, he raised pullets to adult hens, and raised bulls in 4H to make money. He once used the proceeds from the sale of a bull to buy his mother a refrigerator.

He was a straight A student in high school and for his two years at Butler. He played basketball, played baseball and ran track while at Carmel High School. At Butler, he was on full scholarship for track and played freshman basketball.

He married his high school sweetheart, Margaret Settle, at the end of his sophomore year at Butler. They had their first child, David, 9 ½ months later. They would have two more children, Tim and Beth soon after. With a new family to care for, Jim left school and soon found a position with Merchants National Bank as a management trainee. The hard work learned in earlier life paid off and Jim rose through the ranks in Branch Administration. He attended the Harvard Advanced Management Program and was eventually appointed President of Merchants Bank. He later became Chairman and CEO. During this time in his life, he served as Indianapolis 500 Festival Chairman, Chairman of the GTE Senior Golf Tournament in Indianapolis, Butler Board of Trustees member and many other civic memberships.

Despite his long work schedule and community involvement, Jim coached both sons in Carmel Dad’s Club basketball and baseball. He also rarely missed any of his three children’s sports and other activities as they got older.

When Jim and Margaret retired, they started spending their winters in Scottsdale, Arizona. He played golf almost every day as a member at Desert Mountain and then Desert Forest Golf Club in Scottsdale and at Crooked Stick Golf Club in the summers in Carmel. He claimed, “every day was Saturday”.

Jim and Margaret had three children, four grandchildren and with the addition of a new great-grandchild just days before his death, 9 total great-grandchildren. Jim died March 23, 2022. All his family survive him, as he would have wished. With all that he accomplished in life, he considered his family his greatest accomplishment and legacy.

He will be missed as a husband, a father, a grandfather, a great-grandfather and friend. A special thanks to Senior Helpers during a difficult time.

Margaret, David, Tim (Helene), Beth (Bill) and the rest of the family will be holding a Celebration of Life for Jim on April 10th from 2 to 5 PM at Plum Creek Golf Club. All of Jim’s friends, family friends and co-workers are welcome.

Please do not send flowers. Donations may be made to Butler University or the charity of your choice in his name.