“My greatest love passed away today. He was my husband of nearly fifty-seven years. I want to tell you about this extraordinary man whom I married when he was 18 years old.
His talents knew no bounds. He was teaching guitar at the age of sixteen. His hobby was ham radio which he pursued his entire life. He was curious about everything, constantly reading books on every subject from philosophy to astronomy, woodworking, electronics, music, playing guitar, piano, always learning new things.
He wanted to be a teacher when he graduated from high school, but raising a family put that on pause. So he worked at Chrysler, then Cylex, and while he was doing this, he studied through every break and lunch hour and played guitar and bass in a band with his friends on weekends. When Chrysler laid everyone off in the 1980’s, he decided it was time to get his teaching degree. He graduated cum laude from California State University, Sacramento in 1995, then moved back to Indianapolis and taught Spanish and Math at his high school alma mater, Arsenal Technical High School. Eventually, he returned after teaching at an alternative high school in Indianapolis, where the students loved having him as their teacher. He earned the title Teacher of the Year at this school, surprising no one.
He excelled at all he tried to do. His retirement hobbies included playing music and woodworking - he cut and built furniture and guitars with wood from his own trees on our property in Putnam County, a beautiful place he referred to as his Garden of Eden.
His sense of humor had us howling with laughter. He loved to banter back and forth on politics, religion, anything where he could get a rise out of someone. He loved his three children, his six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. He leaves us with so many memories of his smile, his laughter, his stories, and his music. He will be missed very dearly.”
“He loved his many cats over the years, but his most faithful companion of 20 years was Pepe, the ragdoll cat. He would appreciate any gifts in his name to the Putnam County Humane Society which is a non-profit, no-kill shelter. The website is https://www.puthumane.org/ where you can offer a donation in his memory.”
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of Asael Contreras, please visit our floral store.