MARKLEVILLE — Chod Muterspaugh loved the town, and the town loved him.

“It’s the very least we could do in his memory to name a street after him,” Markleville Chief of Police Tim Basey said.

At a recent meeting, Markleville Town Council approved changing the name of Tariff Street to Muterspaugh Drive.

The street is named for long-time resident Charles “Chod” Muterspaugh, who passed away in November at age 82. Muterspaugh was a local volunteer firefighter for 54 years.

He worked at Elston Richards Warehouse for 17 years and was a custodian at Pendleton Heights High School for 21 years. He was also a custodian at town hall and a member of the parks department.

“He was a true giving person,” Basey added. “He was a fixture in Markleville. Everyone knew him, and everybody liked him. He always had a kind word, and he’s really missed.”

The town began the process of changing the street name earlier this year. There is only one home on the street, and it is owned by Muterspaugh’s daughter.

The change was approved by the Markleville Plan Commission prior to going to the council.

Council president Daniel Roseberry said the sign has been made, but the town has a few more items on its checklist before hosting a dedication ceremony to unveil the new sign.

“We’ll forward the information to the Indiana Department of Transportation and we will have to update other government agencies,” Roseberry said.

“(Chod) was a pretty special person,” Roseberry added. “No matter what activities were going on in Markleville, you always saw Chod, enjoying and helping people.”

Another new address

At the August meeting, the council formerly approved the address for the new Dollar General store, which is planned to be open by the end of October, Roseberry said.

The address will be 8581 South State Road 109.

Generous donation

Basey and the police department received a donation of $2,368 dollars from the town’s three churches, Markleville East Christian Church, North Christian Church and Brightpoint Christian Church. It was the offering from a combined service held on Sunday during Markleville Jamboree.

Basey said Brightpoint pastor Jesse Flood had told him on the Friday before they were going to give the police department the offering from the service, but the chief had no idea it would be such a large amount.

The chief was at the August town council meeting when he got a text message with the amount that was being donated.

“I was overcome with emotion,” Basey said. “I told the town board about it. I thought it was an awesome thing the community did for us and we’re going to turn it around and give it back for our Sneaky Santa (program) this holiday season.”

The department’s Sneaky Santa program is a gift-giving project that gives toys and other Christmas gifts for children in need.

“This was a big shot in the arm for us, getting those kind of funds,” Basey added. “I wasn’t expecting anything like that. I was expecting a lot less. They came up with that and it was kind of overwhelming.”