Louis H. Schwitzer

29 February 1880 – 9 May 1967

Louis was briefly a race car driver and later an engineer. He became quite wealthy as an engineer and businessman and was well known for his philanthropy.

As a driver, he won the first ever race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and in honor of that achievement and his lifelong contributions to motorsports, the Louis H. Schwitzer Award for Design Innovation is presented each year after the finish of the Indianapolis 500.

This mausoleum was put in place for his wife Sophie (née Ramp, 23 May 1889 – 18 Feb 1935), who died at the young age of 45 in 1935 – more than 30 years before her husband’s passing.

They had at least one child, but I didn’t do a deep dive into the research on this so there may have been more, and I’m not sure if he ever remarried. His Wikipedia entry is basically a stub and doesn’t even mention Sophie.

This mausoleum sits up on the very steep hill at the heart of its eponymous cemetery, surrounded by other Indiana notables. It is an absolutely spectacular location from which you can see the entire downtown skyline.

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