Editor’s note: This is one of a continuing online series of profiles of the more than 12,000 Hoosiers who have died from COVID-19. The stories are from 12 Indiana newspapers, including The Republic, who collaborated to create the collection to highlight the tremendous loss that the pandemic has created. The series appears daily at therepublic.com.
Name: Thomas Popcheff
City/Town: Speedway
Age: 69
Died: April 5
Thomas Popcheff’s first job was cutting grass for the Speedway Parks Department in the 1960s. Decades later, as president of the development commission, he was still doing essential work for Speedway.
And in between, Popcheff reveled in everything the town offered.
“The month of May was something special,” daughter Nikki Popcheff, 41, said. “There’d be 50, 100 people at our house on Indianapolis 500 race weekend. Every inch of floor space was taken, and tents were in the yard. He’d get up at 4:30 each morning, scope out the track and bring back a report.”
Known for his optimism, a zest for sports and a tendency to dote over his daughters, Popcheff died of the coronavirus on April 5 — his 69th birthday.
“He was very successful during his life, but his greatest accomplishment was just being a really great guy,” his wife, Karen Popchoff, said in an email.
Popcheff was a longtime employee and deputy commissioner at the Indiana Department of Administration. He graduated from Purdue University.
His passion was for his family and all things Speedway — and after living with Karen for a time in Avon, the Popcheffs moved back to Speedway about a dozen years ago and re-engaged with the community.
“Obviously, it was a different town than from when he grew up,” younger brother Ed Popcheff said. “It was a time when the race wasn’t big, big business and Main Street wasn’t a hot spot.”
On his return, Popcheff glided right back into civic life, joining several Speedway boards just as the downtown underwent unprecedented development.
On the redevelopment commission, Popcheff helped steer the final stages of the downtown resurgence. Main Street between 10th and 16th streets burst with new businesses, building renovations and development projects. In February 2019, Popcheff announced two new buildings on the 1300 block that would house condominiums, office studios and retail store fronts.
“He had a lot of executive experience and brought that here at a time when we needed it,” said Councilman Gary Raikes, who said he considered Popcheff a mentor.
But his family remembered Popcheff for other things.
Thomas Popcheff never missed an Indy 500, held season tickets to Pacers and Colts games and seldom went without at least one of his children — and a camera. He took pictures everywhere, his family said.
“He was a great photographer, and I asked him questions all the time about it,” said daughter Alexa Popcheff, 39, a photographer who credits her father with piquing her interest and teaching her the basics.
Since her father died, Alexa has participated in the Front Porch Project to raise money for researchers at Purdue University to fight COVID-19. She has taken about 30 portraits of families on their front porches, mostly in Geist, as they self-isolate through the pandemic.
“I just thought this was a great way to have a tribute to my dad,” she said.
— Contributed by the Indianapolis Star
