Dorothy Mengering ‘was everyone’s mom’

Dorothy Mengering may be best known as "Dave's mom," but to those who knew her, she was "everyone's mom."

Mengering, an Indianapolis church secretary who found unexpected fame as a correspondent on son David Letterman's late-night TV show, died Tuesday at her home in Carmel, according to an obituary by Mengering's three children and provided by Letterman's publicist. She was 95.

"She was a wonderful soul," said former WISH-8 reporter Patty Spitler, who first met Mengering when "Late Show with David Letterman" debuted on the then-CBS affiliate in 1993. "She was approachable. She never isolated herself. She was a very sweet woman, a very smart woman. And she made you smile. How could you not love her?"

"Late Show" viewers warmed to Mengering's unassuming style when she served as a correspondent during the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway (1994); Nagano, Japan (1998); and Salt Lake City (2002).

She also delivered Top 10 lists from her Indiana kitchen and challenged Letterman, who grew up in Broad Ripple, to guess what pies she had baked for Thanksgiving.

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"As long as David was home, I would make him a chocolate chiffon pie for his birthday," Mengering told IndyStar in 2001, reminiscing about the comedian's childhood. "We just put the candles on top of the pie."

Her death came a day before Letterman's 70th birthday.

"I'm so sorry to hear of Dorothy Mengering's death, and so grateful that Dave shared her with us," Stephen Colbert, who replaced Letterman as host of the  "Late Show," said on Twitter.

Before Letterman's "Late Show" retirement in May 2015, he shared a Mother's Day highlight reel starring Mengering. She was seen baking with Hoosier rock star John Mellencamp and touting the prowess of Old Milwaukee beer.

Spitler, now host of WISH-8 news segment Boomer TV and the syndicated PetPals TV, said she looks back with tears thinking about her memories of Mengering.

"She'll always be Dave’s mom. That’s the way we know her," she said. "But she cherished that. She was Dave’s mom. She was everyone’s mom. We saw our own mother in her."

JoAnn Banich, longtime manager at Some Guys Pizza in Carmel, said Mengering was a frequent patron.

“I’m going to miss Dorothy so much,” Banich said. “She was such a sweetie. She was always happy to be there to eat, and she loved our food.”

On Tuesday evening, Gretchen Letterman's daughter picked up a carryout order and told Banich the news. “She told us, ‘You are part of our family. I just wanted you to know that grandma passed away,’” Banich said.

Born Dorothy Marie Hofert in Linton on July 18, 1921, Mengering took business courses at Indiana University. In 1942, she married Joe Letterman, a florist who eventually owned stores on 34th Street and Keystone Avenue in Indianapolis.

The couple's three children, Jan, David and Gretchen, attended Broad Ripple High School. Joe Letterman died in 1973.

Mengering worked as a secretary at Second Presbyterian Church, 7700 N. Meridian St., into the 1980s. She married Hans Mengering in 1983. He died in 2013.

She donated more than $100,000 from sales of a 1996 cookbook, "Home Cookin' with Dave's Mom," to a Kiwanis International campaign to wipe out iodine deficiency disorders in developing countries.

In 2007, Mengering joined Letterman for dedication ceremonies of Ball State University's David Letterman Communication and Media Building. "If reasonable people could put my name on a $21 million building, anything is possible," said Letterman, a 1969 BSU graduate.

Mengering is survived by her three children, five grandchildren and her sister, Hazel Baughman.

Spitler said she interviewed Mengering a few times a year and they would talk once a month or so. The two became friends.

"She was always concerned about me, my love life and how I was doing,” she said. "She just wanted me to be happy. She would always ask me, ‘Are you happy?’”

Mengering always attributed Letterman’s wit to an uncle, but Spitler disagrees.

"You can see him in her,” she said. "She had that wry kind of a smile, and she would just say that perfect thing. She had a way of being funny without trying. I don’t know anyone who didn’t love her.”

A memorial service is planned at Second Presbyterian Church. Details are pending.

IndyStar reporter Amy Haneline contributed to this story. Call IndyStar reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.