Friends and family remember Mishler
By Mike Siroky
cnhi News Service
BREMEN � Gregory E. Mishler, one of the best-known names in Bremen, died at age 56 of liver cancer on Tuesday at the Mayo Clinic/St. Luke�s Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla.
He had a liver transplant in 1994 at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
His family owned and operated Mishler Funeral Home, currently run by his son, Ryan.
�Dad was always one of those guys who was working on something in town,� Ryan said. �The United Way, fund-raisers, a volunteer fireman, as a state representative . . . everyone in town knew him which, when you�re growing up, sometimes works against you because everyone knows your dad and you can�t get away with anything.�
Greg married Deanna Durbin in February 2002. They had moved to a home on Lake Wawasee in Syracuse and wintered in Naples, Fla.
Greg was one of the forerunners of establishing town ambulance services, taking the usual pick-up runs in funeral vehicles to the level of a fully-stocked ambulance.
�Dad was one of the first certified EMTs in the state,� Ryan said. �He worked with Governor (Otis) Bowen on that.�
Bowen is another Bremen native.
�He and Doc Bowen were instrumental in getting ambulance drivers certified.�
Greg retired from the business in 1999, after 31 years of service as president and owner of Mishler Funeral Home.
�Greg had good political savvy, a lot of energy and was a natural to the political arena,� said John Zentz, former Republican county chairman and another Bremen resident.
�It just came second nature to him. I don�t know that I�ve ever seen anybody who moved into the political arena � as tough as it can be at times � and grow with it like Greg did.
�He was one a close friend and not only through politics. We got to be good friends and we spent a lot of hours in the coffee shop not only talking politics but also about Bremen, where he felt that it needed to go with the development of the town and where it would go.�
Greg first ran for state office against Ed Cook.
�The Republican candidate had a heart attack and they came and asked dad to run,� Ryan said. �Then, we got redistricted and he ran again and won. The funny thing is, he and Ed became good friends and worked together in Indianapolis.�
Greg served as a state representative from 1982-1988. He was succeeded by the up-and-coming Kent Adams, another legendary Bremen politician. Adams is now the area�s state senator.
Greg was honored twice with a Sagamore of the Wabash distinction, once by Gov. Bowen and then by Gov. Robert Orr for his service to his state.
See obituary, this page.
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