Joseph V Drics

Born in Karsava, Latvia on July 1, 1929, he peacefully passed away on March 26, 2020 at the age of 90 after a brief illness. He was a resident of Carmel and formerly of Indianapolis. Joe was a 40 plus year member of St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Indianapolis and more recently of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Carmel. His Catholic faith was of great importance in his life as he and his late wife, Zenta, supported Catholic seminaries and orphanages in Latvia. Both were active members of Dzintars, The Latvian Catholic Student and Academic Association and he also served as its president. He was also a board member of the Indianapolis Latvian Community Center.

Joseph, his parents and sister were forced from their native Latvia as refugees in WWII, abandoning all possessions, escaping Communist purges , hostile combatants, a multitude of near death experiences and forced marching across Poland only to be enslaved into a Nazi force labor camp. Subsequent to the end of the war, they lived several years in a displaced persons camp in Germany until he was able to emigrate to the United States in 1951 residing in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He attended Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska majoring in business administration and working as a ballroom dancing instructor until being drafted into the U.S. Army and posted to West Germany to serve with the post-war American forces as a Combat Engineer being fluent in English, German and Russian languages.

He married Zenta (Rudzats), also a Latvian born emigre, in Indianapolis at Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral on November 22, 1958. They were married for 42 years until she passed away on April 24, 2001. He and Zenta were excellent ballroom dancers and singers. In the mid-1990’s, Joe and Zenta were able to return to Latvia for the first time, after leaving during WWII, to revisit their former homes and some remaining relatives.

Joe’s professional occupation was as a manufacturing engineer first for WABCO (Westinghouse Air Brake), followed by Link-Belt Corporation and then Allison Transmission from 1978 until retirement in 2000. At Allison, as an Army veteran, he was most proud of his assignment to the Abrams M1-1A main battle tank transmission program.

He was a loving and caring father especially enjoying Christmas as his very favorite time of the year. Joe was known for extravagant outdoor lighting displays and regularly forcing massive Christmas trees into the house for the great pleasure of his family. Joe’s outdoor displays were so large that if one were to have turned on the dining room chandelier, it would trip the breaker.

While at Our Lady, Joe’s kindhearted nature ingratiated him with all those he met especially with other retirees while also being an active member of the Knight of Columbus. His grandsons were the later focus of his life taking great pride in their every achievement, activity and event of their respective lives.

He is survived by his daughter Beatrice Bursten (spouse David) and grandson Konrads, son John (spouse Rokson) and grandson Alexander in addition to several nieces and nephews. He was also preceded in death by his parents and a sister. A private Catholic burial service was held Tuesday, March 31, at Calvary Catholic Cemetery, Indianapolis. A Memorial Mass will be held after pandemic concerns subside with details to follow at a later date.