Wednesday, October 19, 2011

William J. Booher

Indianapolis Star

Gordon St. Angelo led the state Democratic Party from 1964 to 1974.

Gordon St. Angelo, a Democratic powerhouse in the 1960s and '70s in Indiana and on the national stage, died Tuesday in St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital.

St. Angelo, 84, lent his political weight to the successful election campaigns of Gov. Roger Branigin, U.S. Sens. Birch Bayh and Vance Hartke and other Democratic Party candidates.

He served as Branigin's campaign manager in 1964 when Branigin was elected governor, and that same year, St. Angelo was selected state Democratic Party chairman, a position he held for 10 years.

He was the party's deputy national chairman from June to November 1968 and oversaw the management of Hubert Humphrey's unsuccessful presidential bid against Republican Richard Nixon. In 1973, St. Angelo was narrowly defeated by Lawrence O'Brien in a bid to become national party chairman.

St. Angelo ran the Indianapolis-based Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation -- now called the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice -- which is dedicated to school choice. He became its president emeritus in January 2009, after serving as president and chief executive officer since 1997. He had retired after 25 years at the Lilly Endowment, where he was senior program officer of community development.

"He was a bright man, hardworking, who knew what it took to get a job done. He was somebody who you wanted on your side," said Marion County Democratic Party Chairman Ed Treacy, who was St. Angelo's administrative assistant from 1969 to 1971, during St. Angelo's stint as state chairman.

St. Angelo's political life "started out initially as a big JFK supporter," Treacy said of John F. Kennedy's successful 1960 presidential campaign. "He had JFK stay in his home in Huntingburg," Treacy said. At the time, St. Angelo was Dubois County Democratic Party chairman.

Treacy said St. Angelo grew up in Huntingburg and operated a clothing store there, but Treacy's many memories come from their political association. "He was a person who taught me a lot about the basics of politics, the organizational structure and how to get out the vote," he said.

"Basically," Treacy said, "he was a Southern Indiana conservative."

But St. Angelo adhered to more liberal Democratic politics in the '60s. "Gordon was a chameleon. He knew how to survive," Treacy said.

But the party veered to the far left with the nomination in 1972 of George McGovern, and St. Angelo became more and more conservative during his later years, Treacy said.

Paul St. Angelo, one of St. Angelo's three sons, agrees. "Dad became very conservative in his old age," he said. Still, he added, "the Democratic Party was important to him."

Gordon Durnil, a longtime key figure in state Republican politics who served as state GOP chairman from 1981 to 1989, recalled St. Angelo's positive impact on getting Democrats elected to office.

Durnil said he and the late L. Keith Bulen, a major power in Republican politics in the state who served as Marion County Republican Party chairman from 1966 to 1972, met at times with St. Angelo. Durnil called those meetings friendly and pleasant with the purpose "to make sure whoever the person who won could govern" -- regardless of party. "That was a time you could be friends with your opponents," he said.

"He was a good, honorable man," Durnil said of St. Angelo. "He was dedicated to improving the quality of education."

St. Angelo served as chairman of the board for The Indianapolis Star's Jefferson Awards in the 1990s and for the Indianapolis Civic Theatre in the 1970s and was a board member and vice president of the Indianapolis Airport Authority from 1983 to 1999. He also served on the boards of community organizations and colleges, including the University of Indianapolis.

He and his wife, the late Beatrice St. Angelo, loved to travel, according to family members, and visited 107 countries during their 53-year marriage.

Survivors include sons Paul, Kurt and John.

St. Angelo was a member of Second Presbyterian Church, where a memorial service is pending.