Art Faulkner Share

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Arthur ​“Art” Faulkn­er was born in Franklin, Ken­tucky. At age 12, his father was called to pas­tor St. Paul Mis­sion­ary Bap­tist Church in Mar­i­on, IN, and the whole fam­i­ly made a big move to the Hoosier state.

Faulkn­er grad­u­at­ed from Mar­i­on High School in 1958, then attend­ed col­lege at Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty, grad­u­at­ing in 1964. While work­ing at Mar­i­on Gen­er­al Hos­pi­tal in food ser­vice, Faulkn­er met his wife, Rita. They now have 4 suc­cess­ful adult chil­dren, 3 grand­chil­dren, and 3 great-grandchildren.

Faulkn­er has set a great exam­ple in soci­ety all of his life. He has vast lead­er­ship with Mar­i­on Com­mu­ni­ty Schools’ Board of Trustees, Par­ent Involve­ment Com­mit­tee, and Black His­to­ry Club. Faulkn­er expressed grat­i­tude for the Black His­to­ry Club’s rap­port in giv­ing stu­dents edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ties includ­ing schol­ar­ships through Black col­leges while shar­ing relat­able suc­cess stories.

Faulkn­er takes plea­sure and hon­or in vol­un­teer­ing on var­i­ous com­mu­ni­ty boards includ­ing the Mar­i­on Senior Cit­i­zens Board, Rotary Club, Board of Zon­ing Appeals, and Grant-Black­ford Men­tal Health Board. Faulkn­er reflect­ed how Grant-Black­ford has become a mod­el around the state to address men­tal and emo­tion­al chal­lenges, espe­cial­ly with the pan­dem­ic caus­ing more cas­es. Faulkn­er also led the Carey Ser­vices Board, and has found joy in work­ing with IWU’s MLK Com­mit­tee, hon­or­ing Rev. Dr. Mar­tin Luther King, Jr. through a cel­e­bra­to­ry con­vo­ca­tion. ​“My wife is a mar­velous singer and has been a great recruiter for the MLK choir,” Faulkn­er remarked.

His great­est pas­sion and call­ing is his involve­ment in the faith com­mu­ni­ty. For most of his life, Faulkn­er has been a dea­con for St. Paul Mis­sion­ary Bap­tist Church…the same church where his father pas­tored. He said the long­stand­ing church has been a key com­po­nent of the com­mu­ni­ty spir­i­tu­al­ly and socially.

Faulkn­er also fond­ly reflect­ed on the decade (2008−2018) that the Dr. Robert H. Faulkn­er Acad­e­my was active and thriv­ing. The A‑rated char­ter school named after his father, Art helped devel­op from an enrich­ment pro­gram. The school had grown to be Ball State University’s most accom­plished schools.

The Clarence Faulkn­er Com­mu­ni­ty Cen­ter, named after Art’s uncle who donat­ed the land for the cen­ter, remains an active place for civic-mind­ed func­tions, pri­vate events, and more. He not­ed his family’s deep roots in Marion.

Faulkn­er has been rec­og­nized as Indi­ana Dietary Man­agers Association’s Admin­is­tra­tor of the Year, and has received the Mar­i­on NAACP Com­mu­ni­ty Ser­vice Award, Father­ing Award from the Indi­ana Coali­tion Against Domes­tic Vio­lence, and IWU’s Tony Maid­en­berg Com­mu­ni­ty Ser­vice Award among his honors.

“I am blessed to have peo­ple believe in me. It’s always a joy when you feel your efforts are mean­ing­ful to assist peo­ple in our com­mu­ni­ty,” Faulkn­er concluded.