Susan K. Carpenter

Susan Karen Carpenter passed away peacefully on April 19, 2025, in her home with her beloved pets, Leila and Adonis, and her sister by her side. The cause of death was biliary ductal adenocarcinoma.

Susan was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 6, 1951, to Donald Jack Carpenter and Elise Ann Diehl Carpenter. She spent her early childhood in Uniontown, PA, returning to New Orleans in 1959 and moving to Terre Haute in 1964. She graduated from the State High School of Indiana State University in 1969. She graduated magna cum laude with honors in English Language and Literature from Smith College in 1973. Susan graduated from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 1976. She was admitted to the Indiana Bar and the Federal District Court, Southern District of Indiana Bar in 1976.

Susan was appointed as Deputy State Public Defender and Wayne County Public Defender from 1976–1981. She was the first woman to serve in this position. In October 1981, she was appointed by the Indiana Supreme Court as the Public Defender of Indiana. She would serve in the position for the next 30 years. As the Public Defender, Susan counseled indigent prison inmates. In this role, she was credited with reinforcing and strengthening the state's longstanding appellate defense standards, creating a top-notch capital defense unit, and ensuring representation for indigent prison inmates and persons challenging convictions and sentences. Her legacy includes playing a central role in what was known as the “Juvenile Jail Removal Project,” which helped take thousands of children out of adult jails. Upon her retirement in 2011, Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard said, “As chief advocate for the rights of indigent defendants, Susan Carpenter has made Indiana a place of greater justice. She has been both zealous and elegant in one of the toughest jobs in government, and she makes me proud to be lawyer.”

Susan served on the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute’s Board of Trustees, the Governor’s Juvenile Code and Youth Gang Study Commission, and the National Center for State Courts Special Drug Court Advisory Board. She was a member of the Court’s Commission on Race and Gender Fairness and the Indiana Public Defender Commission Sentencing Policy Evaluation Committee. Susan was the recipient of the Indiana State Bar Association 2000 Achievement Award. Susan was awarded the Indiana University School of Law’s Distinguished Service Award in 2013.

Susan was proceeded in death by her parents and two brothers, Steve and Greg Carpenter. She is survived by a brother, John Carpenter, and partner, Angie; sister, Elise Striz, and brother-in-law, Jeff Frithsen; nephew, Craig Carpenter; nephew, Leonhard Striz, and wife, Sarah Striz and their five children; niece, Anneliese Striz, and husband, Mark Young; and niece, Andrea Araiza, and husband, Roberto, and their son. A private celebration of life is planned. Donations in her name are welcome for her favorite causes, which include protecting wildlife, honeybees, and monarch butterflies.

Arrangments entrusted to Aaron-Ruben-Nelson Funeral Home.