May 25, 1980

Bargersville man dies in crash

       A Bargersville man was killed and an Indianapolis woman charged with reckless homicide as a result of a two car collision Tuesday on State Road 135 south of Fry Road in White River Township.  Dennis Dale Heidenreich, 29, was killed at 2:15 p.m. from injuries he suffered when his car was struck by a pickup truck driven by Lois Ann Armstrong, 27, Indianapolis, according to Deputy John Price of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department.

            Ms. Armstrong was charged with reckless homicide and is held under $5,000 bond in the Johnson County jail in Franklin.  Police said she agreed to take a breathalyzer test at the Greenwood Police station after the accident, and she tested .08 percent.  The legal limit for drunkenness is .10 percent.

            A passenger in the Heidenreich car, Richard Smith, 31, also of Bargersville, is hospitalized today in St. Francis Hospital, Beech Grove, in satisfactory condition.  Ms. Armstrong and her passenger, Ernest Lee Mitchell, 36, Indianapolis, were not injured.  Mitchell was charged with public intoxication and later released on $100 cash bond.  According to Price, Ms. Armstrong said she was southbound on 135 when she suddenly swerved into the northbound lane, striking the Heidenreich car.  Heidenreich was pronounced dead at the scene of a fracture at the base of his skull, according to Richard E. Tudor, Johnson County coroner.

            Heidenreich was vice president of the Bargersville Area Civic Organization.  He was a realtor for Jim Williams Realty in Franklin and was a lathe operator Allison Division of General Motors in Indianapolis.  Born Jan. 31, 1951 in Marion County, he was the son Ivan Robert and Christina (Earls) Heidenreich.  He was married to Susan (Britton) Heidenreich on May 2, 1972.  She survives.  A member of the Honeycreek United Methodist Church, he was a 1969 graduate of Center Grove High School.  He attended IUPUI for two and a half years and was active in a local musical group, “Windfield Band” for five years with his brother, David.

            A funeral service will be held Friday at 10:30 a.m. at Vandivier-Tudor Bargersville Chapel.  The Rev. Margurite A. Hill will officiate.  Burial will be at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.  Friends may call after 2 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.

            Also surviving are on daughter, Rachel Heidenreich and one son, Jess Heidenreich, both at home and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Robert Heidenreich, Martinsville.  He also is survived by his brother, David Heidenreich, Indianapolis; his maternal grandmother, Lora Walls, Indianapolis and one niece.  He was preceded in death by one brother, Douglas Heidenreich.

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