Mitchell Joseph Eaton, a beloved father, brother, and son, died peacefully in Terre Haute, Indiana, on March 29, 2025, at the age of 70.
Mitch was born on June 11, 1954, in Vincennes, Indiana, to Robert E. Eaton and Peggy D. (Carter) Eaton. He was the third of four siblings and lived a childhood full of friends and family gatherings. Mitch attended St. John’s Catholic Church, and he graduated from Rivet High School (formerly Central Catholic) in 1972.
Mitch lived life on his own terms, full of the spirit of adventure and dedication to honest labor. He spent the first half of his twenties as a rolling stone, traveling across the East Coast and Midwest making lemon shake-ups and corn dogs at state fairs. Mitch was a craftsman who loved to work with his hands. When he finally settled down in Vincennes, he worked as a cobbler with his father at Eaton and Spaulding Shoe Repair. Most people knew him from his own shop, Eaton Shoe Repair, which he opened in 1985. For almost two decades, Mitch sold Red Wings and Tony Lamas at Eaton Shoe Repair, where he repaired shoes, boots, saddles, and a whole range of durable goods. Later in life, he found passion in every new job he did, from farming watermelons to home remodeling, to custom upholstery, to dry cleaning.
Mitch was a loving, gentle, and generous father, remembered for always devoting himself to his children, from carrying his young kids on his shoulders to later helping his grown children by sending them his last cent when they were in need.
Mitch loved sports and hosted countless friends over the years for pick-up backyard basketball games and pay-per-view boxing matches. He loved watching NCAA basketball and football, especially whenever an Indiana team was playing. Mitch was a veteran member of the social crew at Willie’s Pub, where he excelled at billiards. He loved participating in community bike races around Lake Lawrence. A mediocre but enthusiastic bowler, he bowled in a league at Creole Lanes, engraving his ball “Homer,” after Homer Simpson.
Mitch was an understated eccentric with a wry sense of humor. He loved John Waters films and low-budget science fiction films, and he had a penchant for befriending outcasts and underdogs. After decades of wearing respectable button-down dress shirts for work, he liberated himself in midlife by wearing only tropical Hawaiian shirts year-round. Mitch loved savory food, the unhealthier the better, and was passionate about chili, Limburger cheese, pork rinds, and his famous 12-pound homemade lasagna.
Although he never read more than a handful of books after high school, Mitch had the soul of a poet. Bob Dylan was his muse since childhood, and Dylan’s music and poetry guided Mitch his entire life. Later in life, after his brother took him to an art museum, Mitch became enamored by the artwork of Pablo Picasso. Both Dylan and Picasso, he once said, took the ordinary and turned it into the unexpected. Throughout his life, Mitch did the same.
Surviving Mitch are his three siblings, Kathy Sternal of Terre Haute, Tom Eaton of Olympia, Washington, and Jenny Bilskie of Vincennes; and his three children, Mitchell R. Eaton and Jeremy Eaton Thorne of Vincennes, and Nicole Eaton of Providence, Rhode Island. He is survived by several grandchildren: Noah Eaton, Jaxson Eaton, Emma Eaton, Victaila McDonald, Nicholas Eaton Thorne, Axel Fowler, Scarlett Thorne, Gracelynn Thorne, and Sonja Eaton Smajić. Mitch joins his parents, Bob and Peggy, and his former wife Paula D. (Arnett) Eaton in eternal rest.
Mitch will be buried at Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery. Family will host a Celebration of Life on April 16, 2025, from 4pm to 6pm at St. Francis Xavier Parish Center at 106. S. 3rd St. in Vincennes. Fredrick and Son McClure-Utt Funeral Homes are honored to serve the Eaton family in their time of need. Please post condolences and fond memories at www.fredrickandson.com.
Comments