Mary Fendrich Hulman (March 13, 1905 – April 10, 1998) was the wife of the late Indiana industrialist Anton "Tony" Hulman, Jr. and matriarch of the Hulman-George family that controls Hulman & Company.

Early life

She was born in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

. Hulman was the only child of

Fendrich Cigar Company Fendrich Cigar Company (also known as ''La Fendrich'' and, more correctly ''H. Fendrich'') was a cigar factory in Evansville, Indiana, founded and owned by notable Fendrich family. The factory was shut in 1969. Cigar brands The Fendrich Compan ...

president John H. Fendrich (1867–1952) and Nettie Buttriss Fendrich (1875–1975). The Fendrich family was among Evansville's prominent Catholic families; Mary attended Catholic schools.

Marriage and family

Mary met Tony Hulman in the early 1920s. The rather headstrong young lady was not impressed by Hulman. Hulman eventually won her over, and on October 6, 1926, the couple were wed in a lavish ceremony in Evansville. The couple settled in

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

following a European honeymoon. Tony became sales manager of Hulman & Co., while Mary set up housekeeping in the city's Farrington's Grove neighborhood. Their first child, Mary, was born in Evansville in 1930, but died shortly after birth. She apparently suffered from an enlarged liver. On December 26, 1934, the couple's daughter Mary ( Mari Hulman George), was born. She died in 2018.

A sporting life

Like her husband, Mary was sports-minded. She was an avid golfer. Unusually, she also enjoyed shooting skeet competitively and was considered an excellent shot. When Tony purchased the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...

in 1945, she chose to play an active role each year at the race. Drivers and fans alike loved her.

Philanthropy

In the early 1970s, the Hulmans donated land and a "challenge grant" of $2.5M (25% of the estimated construction cost) for the construction of Indiana State University's

Hulman Center The Hulman Center is a 10,200-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States.

arena and the city of Terre Haute's public

Hulman Links Hulman can refer to: *the Hulman family *a fictitious Northern Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is ...

golf course. Mary became a major contributor to art museums and schools; particularly the

Sheldon Swope Art Museum The Sheldon Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States, was originally funded by a bequest from Michael Sheldon Swope (1843–1929), a Civil War veteran and jeweler who lived in Terre Haute much of his adult life. Planning for the ar ...

in Terre Haute and the Indianapolis Museum of Art, along with

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) is a private Roman Catholic liberal arts college in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. Originally a college exclusively for women, it is now coeducational. It is the oldest Catholic college in Indiana a ...

and other institutions of higher learning.

Later life

When Tony Hulman died on October 27, 1977, she became the chairman of both the Speedway and Hulman & Co. At the 1978

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

, she took over Tony's traditional role, delivering for the first time the famous call of "Gentlemen, start your engines!" She would continue to give the command (with few exceptions, when daughter Mari delivered it) through 1996. In 1986, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' magazine named Mary to the list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, worth nearly $180 million at that time. With her vast wealth, Mary continued her long-standing tradition of giving generously to her favorite institutions and charities in her later years. As her health declined in the 1990s, Mary gradually relinquished her roles to her daughter and grandchildren and finally moved from the family's longtime Terre Haute home to Marquette Manor Retirement Community in Indianapolis.

Death

Mary Fendrich Hulman died from complications due to

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

on April 10, 1998, at age 93. Following her funeral in the church where Tony Hulman's funeral was held 20 years earlier, she was buried by his side in Terre Haute's Calvary Cemetery.

References

Sources

Associated Press article on the occasion of Hulman's death

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hulman, Mary 1905 births 1998 deaths Deaths from emphysema Hulman-George family Indianapolis 500 People from Evansville, Indiana 20th-century American philanthropists