Born in Tallahassee, Drew Boggs was an Eagle Scout. He first hiked on the Appalachian Trail while in scouting. This was the beginning of a dozen hikes on the Trail over the years, covering seven to eight hundred miles from just north of Atlanta to the Virginia state line. In fact, he and his wife Mary spent their honeymoon camping next to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Before moving to their present home near Allisonville Christian Church (ACC), Drew belonged to First Congregational United Church of Christ, near 71st Street and Pennsylvania, where he had headed up the board of trustees. At ACC he sings bass in the church choir and performs in a harmonica-accordian group with Bob Coalson and Maggie Hartman, sometimes called the Heavenly Reeds.
He and Mary met at Florida State University in Tallahassee. She is president of Indiana’s Church Women United and is active in St. Albans Episcopal Church, 46th Street and Emerson Ave. She is also on the board of the League of Women Voters. As a dedicated baseball fan, she led the effort to renew St. Alban’s deteriorating baseball fields and sports program. Unfortunately, sports is on hold for this season due to the pandemic. While the two are in separate congregations, it is not unusual to see Mary at ACC events throughout the year.
A life-long woodworker, Drew just completed walnut end tables for his older son’s family in Denver. He and Mary will deliver them there in September after a demanding two-day drive. Their younger son lives in Charlotte. Each son has a child who will be a university freshman this year. In all, Drew and Mary have five grandchildren.
Drew’s latest project for the church, with the assistance of Ted Hartman, has been building a massive floor-to-ceiling bookcase in the choir room which will store ACC’s burgeoning collection of anthems.
In his early 20s, Drew served in Military Intelligence in Europe, primarily in Bavaria and on the Black Sea in Turkey, monitoring what was then called the Eastern Block countries.
Drew spent most of his working life in the investment side of the life insurance industry. That eventually brought Drew and Mary here to Indianapolis to work with American United Life, where he was responsible for a 1.3 billion dollar portfolio.
He worked for a long time on historic restoration for Indiana Landmarks. He was pleased to play a part in the restoration of 14 properties in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, due west across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. These properties included a hotel which was the first 3-story building built in Indiana. While on Landmarks’ executive committee, Drew made the motion to acquire and restore the West Baden Springs Hotel—until 1955, the building with the largest dome in America.
Drew can often be seen with Betsy, his 1929 Model A Ford. Even church members who don’t know him will say, “Oh, the man who drives the Model A!” Says Drew, “I guess I just like old things—old cars, old architecture, and old people.”
