Earl D MISHLER

15 JUN 1943 - 26 FEB 2023

• BIRTH: 15 JUN 1943, Plymouth, Marshall, IN
• DEATH: 26 FEB 2023, South Bend, St Joseph, IN

INDEX

[N34538] Earl D Mishler
June 15, 1943 ~ February 26, 2023 (age 79)

Earl D. Mishler, 79, of South Bend, Formerly of Culver, died Sunday, February 26, 2023.Mr. Mishler was born June 15, 1943, in Plymouth to Ben M. and Blanche E. (Mudra) Mishler, both of whom are deceased. He was never married. There are no known surviving relatives, but he is survived by members of the family with whom he lived with for many years; Heather Dixon, Cassie Powell, and Brandie Mejer, all of South Bend. Mr. Mishler was a 1961 graduate of the pre-consolidation Culver High School. He graduated in 1965 from Valparaiso University and did post-graduate study at both Valparaiso and Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. He was a lifetime journalist and worked more than 26 years in two stints at the South Bend Tribune, where he served as Sports Writer, Copy Editor, Assistant Copy Desk Chief, Sunday Editor and Newsroom System Manager before becoming Night Editor in 2007. He retired in 2014. He also worked for the Logansport Morning Press, the Logansport Pharos-Tribune, the Muncie Star, the Culver Citizen, the Elkhart Truth, the LaPorte Herald-Argus and the Starke County Leader in Knox. Mr. Mishler was best known as a sports writer and later in his career specialized in high school basketball and amateur fast-pitch softball. In the 1970s and ‘80s, he wrote two award-winning basketball columns for The Tribune - “Mishler on Michiana” and “Basketball Spotlight”. He was twice named Media Service Award winner by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association and in 1995 was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Indiana High School Athletic Association. He was a high school basketball historian and documentarian, having compiled nearly a century’s worth of records and statistics. At the start of the 2000-01 season, he started a website devoted exclusively to boys and girls basketball in central Northern Indiana. “E.T. Pearl’s Basketball Corner” remains available online at www.ETPearl.com. As a fan, he began attending high school games during the 1951-52 season and wen to at least one Culver and Plymouth game every season since. He attended at least one session of every Bi-County Tournament since the event’s inception in the 1965-66 season. He began covering high school games for the weekly Culver Citizen while he was in the eighth grade. In 1985, Mr. Mishler was named into the Indiana Softball Hall of Fame by the state chapter of the Amateur Softball Association. Three times in the 1980s, his coverage of amateur softball in The Tribune was named No. 1 in the nation by ASA. He formerly was editor and publisher of two periodic newspapers - “Michiana Fastpitch News” and “Earl Mishler’s Fastpitch Weekly”. He previously served as National Publicist for the North American Fastpitch Association. He was head statistician, official scorer and public address announcer at numerous local, state and national tournaments conducted by NAFA, the ASA and the International Softball Congress. He formerly served as official scorer for the South Bend Cubs (then the South Bend White Sox) of baseball’s Class A Midwest League. While at Culver High, he was starting first baseman for the varsity baseball team in both his junior and senior seasons. Services are pending. The body will be cremated. Palmer Funeral Home - Welsheimer North Chapel is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be expressed at www.palmerfuneralhomes.com