When he wasn’t busy working on the farm during the Spring and Summer, you might have found Merle “Bud” Otto and his wife, Eleanor, enjoying a baseball game. For many years, they proudly watched their sons, and more recently their grandsons, play in high school and college games.
Married in 1951, the couple took residence in the small town of Whitcomb, Ind. In 1960, they moved to their farm in Bath, Ind. The couple had two sons, (Glen) Jay and Joseph who is married to Marjorie. They have three grandchildren. “Bud” filled his days doing the many activities it takes to run a farm, and did so lovingly until the time of his passing. As a school teacher, Eleanor taught Home Economics for 40 years. She worked in the Franklin County School system for 37 years. Most of her teaching days were spent in Brookville High School, but she taught the final years before her retirement at Franklin County High School.
With contributions from friends and family given as memorials to “Bud”, Eleanor decided to establish a fund in the Franklin County Community Foundation. The Otto Family Endowment has been created to celebrate the memory of Merle “Bud” Otto and also to honor the Otto family’s rich heritage in Franklin County. Eleanor thought that since the Otto family has so many varied interests; environmental, agricultural, educational, and youth baseball to name a few, an unrestricted endowment would be the right choice. Income from this unrestricted endowment will provide grants to community projects in Franklin County.