Family Members Give Together
Once a year, the Fidler family gathers around John and Lois Fidler’s dining room table for an important conversation.
Those who reside in northern Indiana come together to give away money from the family’s Donor Advised Fund. Over the last 23 years, the family has given generously to 65 local organizations. The collective impact of their donations is significant.
“It’s fun to give money away,” said Karen Lacounte, one of John and Lois Fidler’s daughters.
The Fidler name is well-known in Goshen. The Fidler family owned and operated a ready-mix concrete company for decades. Lewis Fidler started a small filling station after returning from naval service in World War II. Lewis intended to sell land on the southeast side of Goshen for development, but when that didn’t work out he started a sand and gravel business in 1946.
That struggled until 1955 when Lewis bought a ready-mix company and then a concrete block company. Over the years, he acquired other ready-mix companies as their owners retired. At one time, Fidler Inc. had 110 cement trucks with the red and white candy stripe design and 13 ready-mix plants in northern Indiana. John, who had started cleaning railroad cars as a boy, ran the company. His son, Steve, joined the company by doing similar manual labor.
The Fidler family’s legacy of giving extends across generations. Lois (center) and John (second from right) are shown here with their children (from left) Steve Fidler, Kelley Fidler, and Karen LaCounte.
In 1988, the Fidlers sold their company to Evered & Co. in Britain. That company was actually the one that ended up donating the pond and property where the business had been to the City of Goshen for Fidler Pond Park.
The Fidlers continued to own and operate Kuert Concrete, the oldest ready-mix company in the state of Indiana, which they sold in 2023 but continue to be involved in operating.
Lewis believed in helping others and taught that ethic to his family. “He did a lot of things for a lot of people,” says John. Some of his philanthropic and volunteer activities with Goshen Rotary and local boards were well known, but at Lewis’ funeral in 2003, a man walked up and told John that Lewis had paid to put the man through college.
After the company sold in 1988, John and Lewis wanted to help the community in new ways. They gave toward the construction of a pavilion at Pringle Park and other local projects. “Obviously we couldn’t have gotten where we did without customers and employees. Both are very important to us, particularly. We tried to treat people as family,” says John. “We wanted a way to give back to the community and set up a way to help our employees and help our contractors who made us what we were.”
Kelley Fidler, John and Lois’ daughter, adds, “We wouldn’t have gotten where we are without our community.”
The Fidler family involves three generations in helping others. They gather as a family for a lot of the same reasons other families do, but also to do charitable giving and host a Christmas party for others.
In 2001, they set up a donor advised fund to help formalize how the family gives charitably. Starting in 10th grade, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren in the Fidler family get a set amount to give away to a nonprofit. Once they graduate from college or turn 25, they join the family table to discuss how to split up the earnings from the endowed fund. The decision-making and conversation have plenty of banter and dry Fidler wit. That’s part of the family tradition too.
In loving memory: Lois Fidler passed away August 22, 2024, at the age of 84. She and John, her high school sweetheart and husband of 65 years, have given so much to Goshen and Elkhart County. We were able to interview her in June for this story. We are grateful for Lois and her legacy of kindness, service, and generosity and will miss her dearly.
“I don’t think I’ve really understood the magnitude of it until I was able to sit down at the table,” says Shelby Downing, Karen’s daughter and one of the grandchildren. “You always have some sort of idea of what goes on. Obviously it’s not a secret. Then just to sit down with my family and have discussions about the list of things that we had donated to the year before and discuss new ideas? It was cool. It was cool to be a part of that.”
John and his wife Lois served on local boards, so they learned of community needs. John and Steve have also served on the Community Foundation’s board and grant committees.
Through that, they learned more about organizations such as Cora Dale House, which supports people with mental health challenges.
Their service has shaped how the family gives together. “They’ve got this attitude of servitude and gratitude and they’re living it out in their lives and really involved in these organizations beyond just giving money,” said Brad Webb, Kelley’s son and one of the grandsons. “I think obviously, anytime you can help or uplift anybody in your community and have a small part of that, it’s pretty rewarding.”
Sarah Kupke, Steve’s daughter and one of the granddaughters, said as they gave money away, they couldn’t always see its impact. Then her husband and the father of her children died. She took them to Ryan’s Place, which the family had supported, to help them deal with the grief. “Being on the receiving end of this really helped me be able to see,” she says.
Giving time, in addition to money, is important to those in the family. “You really get a lot more meaning out of it when you’re putting your time into it rather than just your dollars,” Steve says.
Twenty-five years ago, the family started a tradition of hosting a Christmas party at the Goshen Boys & Girls Club. “We were just thinking so hard about what to get our kids for Christmas and they were trying to figure out what to get us for Christmas,” says Lois. “We all agreed there’s nothing that any of us really need. Why don’t we pool our money we would spend on each other and do something right? That’s a great party for the Boys and Girls Club. And it’s amazing.”
Lois is the one who reminds her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, “It’s how you live your life. It’s not the special one thing that you’re giving money away. But I hope we’re living lives that they can be proud of.”
This story appeared in the 2024 Annual Report.
